Migrants from Central Asia in the EU countries

CABAR.asia

The independent states that emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union are often called the "Eurasian Balkans" and the "The Grand Chessboard." In this publication, we propose to think about how interested the population of Central Asian states is in migrating to the EU?

In 2001-2002 IOM presented a detailed analysis of the differences in migration flows from Central Asia to the countries of Eurasia and Europe. [1] Ten years ago, the EU countries were mainly visited by persons seeking asylum and international protection and a small number of labor migrants. The situation has changed since then. Currently, the motives and tendencies of leaving Central Asia for the EU countries are different: people leave in search of work, education, asylum or protection, as well as for family reunification.

[1] IOM (2001-2002): Migration Trends in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Available at https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/migr.... P.16

Search of work

Education

Asylym or protection

Family reunification

Labor migration from Central Asian countries to Europe in terms of its quantitative volume is incomparable with migration flows within Eurasia, however, it is this migration that is gradually gaining momentum in numerical ratio.

In 2019, labor employment and hired labour (remuneration activities) came out on top among the grounds for issuing initial stay permits in the EU for citizens of Uzbekistan (3008 people); Kyrgyzstan (1398 people) and Tajikistan (635 people); in second place after migration for the purpose of obtaining education - for citizens of Turkmenistan (142 people) and in third place after educational and family migration - for citizens of Kazakhstan. [2]

[2]Eurostat (2020): First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship [MIGR_RESFIRST__custom_169889]. Accessed November 7, 2020.

Departure for labor migration from the countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is rarely initiated and carried out by citizens from the Central Asian countries themselves. Officially, employment assistance in EU countries is provided by government agencies or private recruitment agencies licensed by governments. According to the Ministry of Labor of Uzbekistan, in 2019, private recruitment agencies sent Uzbek citizens to work in Lithuania (342 people), Latvia (80 people), Poland (38 people), Bulgaria (19 people), Croatia (16 people), Estonia (14 people) and other countries. [3] Due to the lack of state control over the activities of private agencies, this is a very risky route to work in Europe, often associated with the violation of the rights of Central Asian citizens.

Given the great interest of most Central Asian countries - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and, to a lesser extent, Kyrgyzstan - in diversifying migration flows, this direction of migration can be actively developed in the coming years.

EDUCATIONAL MIGRATION FROM CENRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES

In 2019, 4,097 citizens of Kazakhstan, 1,398 citizens of Uzbekistan, 697 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, 335 citizens of Tajikistan and 215 citizens of Turkmenistan showed interest in European education. The main countries of admission for the majority of Central Asian students are the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Hungary. Although, there are other educational areas: every fourth citizen of Uzbekistan who leaves for education to the EU receives it in Latvia, and almost every third citizen of Turkmenistan - in Romania

This interest of students from Turkmenistan in receiving European education in Romania is due to the presence of a special state program of the country's Ministry of Education, [4] which allows citizens of Turkmenistan under the age of 35 apply for higher educational institutions in Romania. The requirements of the ministry for future students from Turkmenistan are overly high. Only those who can provide a certificate of proficiency in foreign languages, a positive reference letter - recommendation from the place of work / study and already have a secondary or higher education, and also successfully pass the entrance test - exam, can go to study in Romania.

Certificate of profiency in foreign languages

Positive reference letter

Successfully pass the entrance test

The increased interest among the citizens of Uzbekistan in obtaining education in Latvia is due to the existence of an agreement (from 1995) between Latvia and Uzbekistan [5] on cooperation in the educational and scientific fields, as well as the allocation of special grants by the state educational agency of Latvia to citizens of Uzbekistan.

In 2020 -2021 11 educational grants were allocated for citizens of Uzbekistan [6] , which cover tuition fees for 10 months for Master and Bachelor students with a stipend of 500 euros per month or 11 months of doctoral studies with a stipend of 670 euros [7] per month.

Among the recipients of such grants, there are citizens of other independent states of Eurasia as well: 15 citizens of Ukraine, 8 citizens of Azerbaijan and 5 citizens of Kazakhstan. [8]

FAMILY MIGRATION

Departure from the Central Asian states to Europe through family migration, while continuing to grow in quantitative proportion, in the last ten years has been inferior to educational and labor migration in all respects. In 2019, 2,681 citizens of Kazakhstan left for the EU countries to reunite with their families (hereinafter, in brackets, the data for 2018 - 2,844 people); 1005 citizens of Uzbekistan (1004 people); 449 citizens of Kyrgyzstan (497 people); 202 citizens of Tajikistan (174 people) and 111 citizens of Turkmenistan (128 people).

The main destination for family reunification travel for all Central Asian countries, except Uzbekistan, has been and remains Germany, which has been supporting the program for the return of ethnic Germans and their descendants for many years. The peak of the success of the German repatriation program came in 1991-1995, when 2,523,961 ethnic Germans left the territory of the newly independent states, including the countries of Central Asia, and became full citizens of Germany. Their descendants, albeit in smaller numbers, continue to reunite in Germany.

Citizens of Uzbekistan have the most diverse geography of family migration: every year, almost every EU-27 state issues an initial residence permit to citizens of Uzbekistan through family reunification. This is also partly due to the events after the collapse of the USSR. Ethnic clashes often forced citizens of Uzbekistan to leave for European countries. Long before the tragic events in Andijan, in 2004, 441 citizens of Uzbekistan were registered in Sweden with applications for asylum. In 2005, there were already 964 people, in 2015 - 3477 people [9] , in 2019 - 1052 people [10] . As a result, today people leave Uzbekistan to stay with relatives and families in Sweden (the main direction of family migration), Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Luxembourg, etc. (countries are indicated on a decreasing scale of the number of migrants).

It is expected that in the coming years, family migration as a channel for leaving the Central Asian countries to the EU countries will be exhausted, although it will not stop altogether.

NATURALIZATION OF CENTRAL ASIAN CITIZENS IN EU (as of 2018)

Obtaining an EU passport is a task that takes time (meeting the period of settled residence in the country), learning the language and fulfilling a number of financial and bureaucratic requirements. Naturalized EU citizens from Central Asia are rare in Eurostat data. [11] The number of naturalized citizens of Central Asia differs from country to country, showing a steady downward trend in recent years. This diminishing trend may be related to the peculiarities of the legislation on citizenship of the CA countries, the complication of naturalization rules in the EU countries or a rather comfortable level of stay in the EU countries for Central Asian citizens who have a residence permit in the EU.

[11] Acquisition of citizenship by age group, sex and former citizenship (online data code: MIGR_ACQ )

Of the three above reasons, the first one should be recognized as the closest to reality. The legislation on the citizenship of most CA countries (with the exception of Kyrgyzstan [12] ) considers the entry into the citizenship of a foreign state as the cancellation of the citizenship of the country of origin (Article 21, Clause 5 of the Law on Citizenship of Kazakhstan [13] ) or has other legislative obstacles for renouncing citizenship (the procedure of individual application addressed to the President of the country within the meaning of Articles 37, 39 in conjunction with Articles 12-2 of the Law on Citizenship of Uzbekistan [14] ).

In addition to Germany, which became the new homeland for most of the naturalized migrants from Central Asia, еру residents of this region showed an increased interest in the citizenship of the United Kingdom. Over the years, the number of Central Asian citizens naturalized in the UK has grown from year to year. So, in 2018, 130 citizens of Uzbekistan became national of the Queen of England (in 2010 - 86; in 2015 - 129 people); 117 residents of Kazakhstan (in 2010 - 109; in 2015 - 132 people); 39 residents of Kyrgyzstan (in 2010 - 48; in 2015 - 52 people); 20 citizens of Tajikistan (in 2010 - 20; in 2015 - 11 people); 28 citizens of Turkmenistan (in 2010 - 29; in 2015 - 24 people). As of 2019, UK data are no longer available in EU general statistics.

130

Uzbekistan

117

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

AFTERWORD

Migration flows from Central Asia to the EU are undergoing gradual changes. Back in 2010, obtaining a residence permit in the EU through family reunification was a leading trend for citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. [15] Today, family migration as a channel for leaving the Central Asian states is being replaced by other migration directions. In 2019, the primary goal of leaving for the EU for citizens of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan was to get an education, [16] and for residents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan - to work for hire.

[15] Eurostat (2020): First permits issued by reason, length of validity and citizenship [migr_resedu]
[16] Eurostat (2020): First permits issued for education reasons by reason, length of validity and citizenship [migr_resedu]

Regardless of the migration goals and expectations, the outbound directions of migrants from Central Asia to the EU, as before, do not differ much. In 2010-2019, the largest number of residences permits for citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were issued by the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland; citizens of Tajikistan - Germany, Poland and Sweden; citizens of Turkmenistan - Germany, Poland and Romania, and for citizens of Uzbekistan - Poland, Latvia and the Czech Republic.

AUTHOR

Olga Gulina
Director and Founder of RUSMPI UG - Institute for Migration Policy, Berlin, Germany
PhD in Migration Law (2010, University of Potsdam, Germany), candidate of legal sciences (2002, Bashkir State University), Diploma of the Higher Course in Human Rights (2005, Helsinki Human Rights Foundation, Poland), Diploma in Law (Institute of Law, Bashkir State University, Russia). Olga is a member of the Migration in EU Countries Network, a fellow of the Alexander Humboldt Foundation, the European Academy of Diplomacy, the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Research Center.