Migration from central Asian countries to Russia and Kazakhstan in the context of integration processes in the Eurasian economic union format

This article examines migration from Central Asian countries to Russia and Kazakhstan in the context of integration processes within the EAEU. There exist large and stable migration corridors between Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, on the one hand, and Russia and Kazakhstan, on the other. Migration from these countries to Russia and Kazakhstan, which is second in scale only to migration from Mexico to the United States, has serious political, social, economic, and demographic impacts both on the migrants’ native countries and on the countries they come to. People seeking work abroad make up the bulk of this human stream. However, labor migration becomes intertwined with, or transformed into, other forms of cross-border movements such as moving abroad for permanent residence or for marrying a foreign citizen. Quite often, going to Russia or Kazakhstan to work ends up in permanent residence in one of those countries. Many workers from Central Asia have become citizens of Russia or Kazakhstan, which means that they have become successfully integrated into the societies of the two countries. © 2017, CA and CC Press AB. All rights reserved.