Ukrainian migrants in Russia. Since 1, the illegal immigrants will be deported
1 November 2015 was abolished preferential migration regime, which previously existed in relation to the citizens of neighboring Ukraine because of the events taking place in this country since the beginning of 2014. It should be noted that the effect of the preferential treatment is preserved in respect of immigrants from the territory of Donbass, who were forced to flee from their native cities and towns, fleeing from the war. The rest of the Ukrainian citizens in the Russian Federation were given the choice to either leave the country, or legalize their position and employment, or undergo a deportation procedure with the likely closure of entry into the territory of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, for both Russia and Ukraine, the presence of 2,5 million Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation is a very hot topic. For Russia, since a significant proportion of Ukrainian citizens are, in fact, illegal migrants and do not have work permits in the country. For Ukraine, since the return of more than a million (another million are refugees who will not be expelled) able-bodied people to the country instantly creates a ton of tremendous social problems that will inevitably turn into political problems. The deportation of Ukrainian illegal immigrants is a great tool of pressure on Kiev, which has been pursuing a militant anti-Russian policy for two years, while “parasitizing” on the Russian state - including in terms of the presence in the country of more than a million labor migrants who continue to send Russian rubles home.
One of the major problems of the modern world is migration, affecting, to one degree or another, practically all countries. Developed countries act as centers of gravity for foreign migrants who expect to find in them more dignified living and working conditions. For millions of people, migration is forced, because bloody wars are going on in their home countries, interethnic and religious conflicts are raging. On the other hand, living in a peaceful, but backward, impoverished country, prompts many people, especially the able-bodied and active, to look for a happier “place in the sun”. The Russian Federation is the center of attraction for migrants from almost all the republics of the former Soviet Union. They come to Russia primarily from Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Moldova, but one of the leading in terms of the number of migrants entering the territory of Russia, the former post-Soviet republics is Ukraine. The riots in Kiev and the overthrow of President Yanukovych, the fighting in the Donbas, the rapid impoverishment of the Ukrainian population — all of these factors even more spurred the growth of “Ukrainian” migration to Russia, which was always distinguished by high rates.
Causes of emigration from Ukraine - socio-economic collapse
Migrating to the Russian Federation in search of work, Ukrainian citizens began almost immediately after the collapse of the USSR and the sharp deterioration in the economic situation of sovereign Ukraine. However, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian construction brigades worked on the territory of the RSFSR. Therefore, the collapse of the Soviet Union became only a catalyst for processes that were still brewing in the 1960-e - 1970-e. First of all, the western regions of Ukraine were traditionally the source of labor migrants. Agrarian territories of Western Ukraine have never been able to provide full employment in all its numerous population. Despite the fact that in the late XIX - first half of the twentieth centuries. followed by several waves of migration to the United States and Europe from Transcarpathia, Bucovina and Galicia, then belonging to Austria-Hungary, then Czechoslovakia, Romania and Poland, and later to the Soviet Union, the western regions of Ukraine remained a place of concentration of significant labor resources.
When the Soviet Union collapsed and the transition to a market economy began in the post-Soviet republics, accompanied by de-industrialization and the destruction of industry, unemployment and the subsequent decline in the standard of living of the population contributed to the beginning of a powerful new wave of labor migration from Ukraine to other countries, primarily to the Russian Federation and to European countries. It came from the western regions of Ukraine - Transcarpathian, Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi - accounted for the bulk of labor migrants who went to work in Russia and European countries. At the same time, until recently, residents of the central regions of Ukraine, as well as the Donbass, did not show significant activity in terms of labor migration outside the country. This was due to the fact that the general standard of living and job security in the center and in the east of the country was radically different from the agrarian western regions. In the central and eastern regions of Ukraine, many industrial enterprises continued their work, which managed to survive after the country's transition to a market economy. As for the Donbass, here, despite the general decline in the standard of living, there was also a job, so the locals did not even try to move to Russia or, moreover, European countries. Another thing is the western regions of Ukraine, which have become the main supplier of cheap labor — Ukrainian “guest workers” —constructors to the Russian Federation and Europe, as well as female sex workers — to Russia, European countries, the states of the Middle East and even North Africa. Ukrainian women also took leading positions in the so-called “bride market”, trying to leave the country through marriage with foreigners. However, many of the women fell into sexual slavery in Ukraine itself or abroad - criminal groups forced them into prostitution.
According to the Ukrainian Center for Social Research, 2008 million Ukrainians worked outside of the country in 4,5, of which more than 2 million worked in the Russian Federation and another 1,7 million in the European Union. It is noteworthy that in the European Union, Ukrainians worked in countries such as Portugal, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic - that is, where the income level of the population is lower than in the more developed countries of Europe, but there is a need for low-paid workers who are ready to engage in hard and prestigious labor. . It is known that the main part of migrants from the territory of Western Ukraine goes to Italy. So, according to statistics, the main supplier of labor to Italy is the Lviv region - 40% of Ukrainian labor migrants left here. Another 10% left the Ternopil region of Ukraine, according to 10% - from the Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi regions of Ukraine. It is indicative that in the Italian direction of the Ukrainian labor migration, in contrast to the Russian direction, women predominate. They make up 80% of Ukrainian migrants in Italy. Usually, Ukrainians work in Italy for five to six years, finding employment in low-paid and unskilled jobs. Since the main part of Ukrainian migrants in the country are women, they are employed in the care of the sick and the elderly, children, and household help. A small number of Ukrainian women are also employed in industrial and agricultural enterprises.
Where do Ukrainian migrants go and work?
It should be noted that the exact number of Ukrainian migrants working abroad is extremely difficult to establish, since the majority of Ukrainian citizens leaving for work simply do not register when leaving the country as labor migrants. This is facilitated by the policy of the Ukrainian authorities, who are trying in every way to hinder the labor migration of the Ukrainian population to Russia and Europe. In 2012 was The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine reported that the working population of the country was 22,5 million. people, whereas the official place of work of them had only 12,5 million. human. Not less than 6,5 - 8 million Ukrainian citizens, according to the International Organization for Migration, at 2012 worked outside of Ukraine. In fact, every third Ukrainian of working age was at the beginning of the events on the Maidan outside the country - in earnings. In the European Union countries, it is the migrants from Ukraine who constituted the most numerous part of the legal labor migrants (Africans and Asians, mainly, penetrate the territory of the EU countries illegally). In fact, it was Ukrainian labor migrants who largely financed the Ukrainian economy “before Maidan”. Every year from the citizens of Ukraine received funds that exceed almost three times the foreign financial investment. So, if by 2012 Ukrainian migrants invested 16,8-19 billion dollars, then foreign companies and entrepreneurs - only 6,5 billion. dollars. Most Ukrainian citizens worked in the Russian Federation. Here, at construction sites, enterprises and in the field of agriculture, 42% of the total number of Ukrainian citizens working outside the country worked. Another 14% of Ukrainians worked in Poland, 13% - in Italy, 12% - in the Czech Republic. Before the outbreak of armed conflict in the Donbas, the vast majority of immigrants from Ukraine who were outside the country were residents of the western regions of Ukraine (71,6% of the total number of Ukrainian labor migrants). In general, Western Ukrainian migrants were employed in the construction industry (45%), in the field of domestic workers (18%), in agriculture (11%). The majority of Ukrainians defined their immigration in search of work abroad as forced, dictated by their lack of work and low wages at home. First of all, rural residents are looking for work outside the country, since in the villages of Western Ukraine there is practically no possibility of employment. However, rural residents, for the most part, do not have a market demand for qualifications, and therefore join the ranks of low-skilled and unskilled workers. First of all, these are construction workers of a very different profile, but mostly brigades of dressers. Secondly, these are agricultural workers - both in Russia and in countries of Eastern and Western Europe. Thirdly, it is a domestic servant - for vacancies of nannies, carers, maids, housekeepers, cooks, and cooks, mainly women from rural areas who have certain household skills but do not have the qualifications and education to work in other areas of work are employed. Finally, a certain part of Ukrainian migrants are engaged in trade. As for "intellectual migration", its number from Ukraine is relatively small (from Russia for 1990-e - 2000-e.
This high level of migration from Ukraine to other countries was the result of the completely failed social and economic policies of the Ukrainian leadership throughout the post-Soviet period. stories of this country. For more than two decades of the political sovereignty of Ukraine, under the presidents Kravchuk, Kuchma, Yushchenko, Yanukovych, conditions for the full development of the country's economy were not created. On the contrary, there was a destruction of the infrastructure that was built and developed in the Soviet era. The collapse of industry, the meager wages made many Ukrainian citizens look for work outside the country. The phenomenon of Ukrainian prostitution has become a real shame for the country. Girls and women from Ukraine, starting from the 1990-ies, make up a significant part of the “priestesses of love” in Russia, other post-Soviet republics, in the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey, and the Arab East. An even greater number of Ukrainian girls trades in prostitution on the territory of Ukraine itself. In turn, girls and women engaged in the provision of intimate services, decompose the rest of the Ukrainian women, because they instill in them the conviction of the permissibility of earning money in such a dubious way. It should be noted that not all prostitutes are involved in this business against their will and are victims of criminal activities of mafia groups. Most of them quite consciously choose their own path in life - this is how the absence of life prospects and the possibility of honest decent earnings with growing consumer demands and the desire for a “beautiful life” with minimal costs intersect. Another group of Ukrainian citizens, constituting a significant part of migrants, are persons of Gypsy nationality who also migrate through the territory of the Russian Federation, countries of Eastern and Western Europe. First of all, we are talking about the "Magyars" - Transcarpathian Gypsies who speak Hungarian and inhabit the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. At one time, the Soviet Union managed to achieve employment of the majority of the Magyars, but the destruction of industry in the post-Soviet period forced them to recall the activities of their ancestors and return to a nomadic way of life and begging.
It should be noted that at least 75% of Ukrainian migrants work outside the country illegally. This creates a number of problems, primarily for the migrants themselves, who are deprived of the opportunity to protect their own labor rights and interests, and are forced to accept any working conditions, including actually slave labor, tolerating all sorts of abuse and even crime by employers , bosses, law enforcement officers and migration services. Since in the Russian Federation the main part of Ukrainian migrants is engaged in the construction industry, the lack of proper documents inevitably entails the deterioration of working conditions. Thus, migrant builders are used to perform heavy and hazardous work, often without adhering to basic safety regulations. A very frequent occurrence at construction sites is the failure to pay in full or in part the amount of wages, late payment of wages, and all kinds of extortion from workers. Accordingly, there is no question of a standardized working day, vacations, sick leave, proper medical care and decent living conditions for illegal workers. On the other hand, the presence of a large number of illegal immigrants creates a certain threat of a criminogenic situation in the host country, creates additional risks of sanitary and epidemiological nature. For more than twenty years of the post-Soviet Ukrainian statehood, entire generations of Ukrainian citizens have grown up, oriented towards semi-slave labor outside the country - as a “guest worker”.
On the territory of the Russian Federation the vast majority of Ukrainian citizens worked and works illegally. So, in April 2008 was officially registered in Russia there were only 169 thousand of citizens of Ukraine. At the same time, the Ukrainian Center for Social Research in the same year spoke of 2 million of Ukrainian citizens working in the Russian Federation. It turns out that less than 10% of them worked officially, and the absolute majority were represented by illegals. However, it is much easier for Ukrainian workers to live and work in Russia than, say, immigrants from the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. The appearance of Ukrainians practically does not differ from the appearance of Russians, as a rule, they are fluent in Russian, do not have such significant cultural differences as the same Central Asian or Transcaucasian migrants. For many employers, migrants from Ukraine have always been definitely a more acceptable labor force than migrants from other countries in the near and far abroad. This is due to the following factors. First, as already noted, there is practically no language and cultural barrier, which facilitates the understanding of employers, direct managers and employees. Secondly, workers from Ukraine have higher professional qualifications - according to statistical data, more than half of labor migrants working in Russia have specialized professional education, including in the construction industry, where most Ukrainian labor migrants are employed. Finally, the use of labor from Ukraine deprived entrepreneurs of many potential problems that could arise with some labor migrants from other former Soviet republics (for example, the possibility of their participation in religious extremist groups or involvement in criminal activities, drug trafficking).
Maidan, war and migration
Political destabilization in Ukraine contributed to the further growth in the number of Ukrainian migrants heading to the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, already in 2013 in Russia, voices began to be heard in support of restricting migration from the territory of Ukraine. Thus, the director of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation Konstantin Romodanovsky, back in 2013, stated that the Russian Federation could deport thousands of Ukrainian citizens from the territory of the country 700. According to the official, in 2013, there were about 1,5 million of Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation, of whom only 111 thousand people were legally employed, 350 thousand - studied in Russian universities or stayed with relatives, and the rest more than a million people did not have legal grounds for employment and employment in the Russian Federation. Considering the constant presence of 1,5-2 million Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation (it is quite likely that these are not marginal numbers), the policy of the Ukrainian leadership looked as surprising as it strongly interfered with and resisted integration policy, including joining the Customs Union. If Ukraine did not want to integrate at the political and economic level, then why was Russia obliged to accept on its territory millions of foreign citizens who work without official permission to work and who are generally in the territory of the country almost illegally? If Ukraine was focused on integration into the European Union, then it would not be more expedient to redirect the flow of migrants to Europe, rather than to allow them to be uncontrolled on the territory of the Russian Federation? The ambiguity of the answers to these questions is obvious. After all, Ukrainians are the closest, like the Belarusians, in terms of language and culture with respect to the Russian Eastern European nation. Naturally, a worker - a citizen of Ukraine is much more profitable for a Russian employer than an employee from any Asian state, and for ordinary Russian citizens it is preferable to see as not so culturally different Ukrainian citizens as permanent neighbors.
Significant liberalization of migration policy towards Ukrainian citizens followed, oddly enough, in 2014, after the government of President Yanukovych was overthrown in Kiev as a result of riots. The main reason for the relaxation of migration policy towards Ukrainian citizens was the beginning of the armed conflict in the Donbas. The bloody war that claimed the lives of thousands of civilians was the main reason for which, guided by humanitarian considerations, the Russian leadership ordered the migration services to extend permits for temporary stay in the Russian Federation for all Ukrainian citizens. This relief, however, was actively used not only by refugees from the belligerent Donbass, but also by the same labor migrants, as well as persons who did not want to go to serve in the Ukrainian army after the start of partial mobilization. The main part of the citizens of Ukraine who entered the territory of the Kursk, Voronezh, Bryansk, Oryol, Rostov regions in 2014-2015. was represented by refugees from the territory of the belligerent Donbass - Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. It should be noted that the overwhelming majority of them do not have any cultural or linguistic differences from the Russian population of the neighboring regions of the Russian Federation, a significant part of them position themselves exclusively as Russians. From the very beginning of the armed conflict in the Donbass, the Russian Federation created all the conditions for accommodating refugees in the country, providing specially equipped refugee reception points for this purpose and organizing their transportation from the country's border areas to inland regions, up to Siberia and the Far East - at will the refugees themselves. At the same time, when the situation in the Donbass somewhat normalized, a significant part of the refugees reached home - after all, people forcedly fled to Russia, saving their lives, and there, in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, they remained at home, households who did not want to leave their relatives and close.
The number of refugees fleeing the war in the Russian Federation remains less numerous than the number of labor migrants. Thus, according to official data, currently in the Russian Federation over 300 temporary accommodation centers continue to function, in which there are more than 17 thousand citizens of Ukraine, including 5,5 thousand children. In the temporary accommodation centers, refugees find shelter and food, as well as medical care. Then from the TAC, the refugees are moved to the regions of the country. Most of the temporary accommodation centers operate on the basis of educational institutions, in sanatoriums, rest homes, children's health camps. Depending on the scale of the activity, one TAP can accommodate from fifty to several thousand people. It is worth emphasizing that refugees located in temporary accommodation centers should not be confused with those refugees who are in regions of the country. The latter are much more, since TACs are only the first stage in the placement of refugees in the country, and many citizens of Ukraine enter Russia and then set up on the spot, bypassing TACs. Someone gets a job and rents housing independently, someone uses the help of relatives, friends and acquaintances living in Russia (the latter is especially developed in the Rostov region, whose population has close ties with the population of the neighboring Donetsk and Lugansk regions, in fact representing one cultural region).
21 October 2015 it became known that the governor of the Rostov region Vasily Golubev (namely, the Rostov region laid the main burden of responsibility for receiving thousands of refugees from the Donbass) ordered to cancel the emergency situation in 39 from the 55 municipalities of the Rostov region. This decision is due to the fact that the improvement of the political and economic situation in the south-eastern regions of Ukraine contributes to the reduction of the number of refugees in temporary accommodation centers in the Rostov region. However, in the 16 municipalities, located directly on the border with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, the state of emergency remains. According to media reports, currently in the Rostov region there are more than 28 of thousands of Ukrainian citizens, most of whom are accommodated with relatives and friends, and only a little more than a thousand people continue to be in temporary accommodation centers.
Since 1 on April 2014, more than 1 million people who are citizens of Ukraine - residents of the south-eastern regions of the country arrived in Russia. Of these, 400 thousand people received the status of temporary asylum, 200 thousand people - temporary residence permits. By 1 February 2015, according to the Central Data Bank for Accounting for Foreign Citizens, in the Russian Federation there were at least 2,5 million of citizens of Ukraine, which is almost a million people more than last year - in February 2014, in the Russian Federation, there were only 1,6 million citizens of Ukraine. It is noteworthy that in almost a year the number of Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation did not change significantly. Thus, according to the Federal Migration Service, by October 2015, more than 2,6 million citizens of Ukraine were in the territory of the Russian Federation. Of these, about a million people are refugees from the territory of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, and the rest more than one and a half million people are mainly labor migrants.
Pros and cons of migration
As Vadim Yakovenko, deputy head of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, said, at present more than 600 of thousands of Ukrainian citizens violate their stay in the Russian Federation. If during the current month they are not legalized or do not leave the country’s borders, by December 1 they will face administrative punishment, including deportation and closure of entry into the territory of the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that the grace period of stay of Ukrainian citizens in the Russian Federation expired on November 1 2015, the Federal Migration Service provided another 30 days so that citizens of Ukraine who are in the Russian Federation could come to the migration service authorities and legalize their position , including issuing a work permit in the Russian Federation. According to the responsible official of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, no sanctions will be imposed on those citizens of Ukraine who will contact the migration service authorities before December 1 2015. That is, those of Ukrainian labor migrants who register with the FMS will be able to continue their work activities on the territory of the Russian Federation without hindrance.
As we see, Russia, already after those terrible two years of war in the Donbass and riotous anti-Russian hysteria in Ukraine, continues to show humanism towards Ukrainian citizens. By the way, many of them have long lost their actual connection with their homeland, constantly living and working in the territory of the Russian Federation. Of course, for Russia they look a much more culturally and linguistically preferable group of migrants than people from other states. But there are certain nuances. Firstly, the anti-Russian hysteria unleashed by the Ukrainian leadership, to one degree or another, has an informational influence on a part of Ukrainian citizens living in the Russian Federation. It is possible that some of the latter, sympathizing with the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism, may carry out anti-state activities on the territory of the Russian Federation. The political trustworthiness of foreign citizens is much better controlled if they are legally in the country, are officially employed, have registration and all other necessary documents. Otherwise, the country may face a number of problems delivered by unregistered and uncontrolled foreign citizens. Secondly, the lack of legal employment entails numerous economic losses associated with tax evasion. Allowing illegal immigrants to stay on the territory of the country, regardless of their country of origin, is unattainable luxury, and, in difficult modern conditions, is also nonsense. Moreover, unemployment has also increased among Russian citizens, respectively, the need for foreign labor has gradually decreased. Third, Kiev’s demonstratively anti-Russian policy, expressed even in the symbolic rejection of everything connected with Russia and Russian history, leaves Moscow no choice but to use the whole range of its instruments of influence against the Ukrainian authorities. Ukrainian labor migrants in the Russian Federation are one of these instruments of influence, since their return to Ukraine will create enormous problems for the Kiev government. Fourthly, the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian illegal immigrants from the country, if it happens, will also become a good “poke” for the European Union and the United States, which currently provide actual funding for the Ukrainian government. After all, all the deportees will have to be recruited - and for this, modern Ukraine has neither jobs nor opportunities to create them. There is another option - to provide new arrivals with any social benefits, but the latter is also possible in the case of financial assistance from the West. The latter will not want to feed at its own expense Ukrainian citizens, whose problems the Kiev leadership is unable to solve. If you don’t feed them, migrants will rush to Europe, which, in fact, is already happening now. The deterioration of relations with Russia contributed to the fact that a significant part of potential Ukrainian labor migrants shifted to migration to European countries. First in line - Poland and the Czech Republic. According to the director of the European Center for Geopolitical Analysis Mateusz Piskorski, “there are currently about one and a half million labor migrants from Ukraine in Poland. There is already a wave of discontent among the Polish trade unions in various industries - those who believe that the presence of such a large group of labor migrants does not contribute to the improvement of conditions in the Polish labor market ”(Tsit. by: http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2680715). Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian migrants go to Poland, since the standard of living in Poland, generally low enough for the European Union, is completely incompatible with the poverty of modern Ukraine. Ukrainian migrants are a popular topic for discussion in Polish society. Even the series has appeared - "Girls from Lviv". At the appointed time, Polish citizens rush to the TV - to see how the next day developed for Polina, Uliana, Sveta and Olesya - Ukrainian girls who left their native Lviv and arrived in Warsaw to find a job and, generally, a better life. The series is in demand because the problem is really topical for Polish society. Not far behind and neighboring Czech Republic. Its president, Miloš Zeman, was back in August 2015.
However, as evidenced by the events held by the authorities of most European countries, the European Union as a whole is not happy with the mass migration of Ukrainian citizens. Thus, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have long begun to strengthen their borders with Ukraine. Denial of visas to Ukrainian citizens is today a mass phenomenon in the EU countries. Thus, in Belgium, every tenth Ukrainian citizen is denied a visa. In Sweden, the number of failures varies between 4,5%, in Switzerland - also 4,5%, Finland - 4,5%, the Netherlands - 4,2%. The number of refusals of visas to Switzerland increased almost three times, 2,6 times increased - visas to Spain and 2,2 times increased - visas to Portugal. It is significant that the EU countries are much more willing to accept citizens of Syria, Somalia and Eritrea, than citizens of Ukraine. Although Ukrainians seem to have much less cultural differences with European nations and are able to more quickly and efficiently integrate into European society (unlike Afro-Asian migrants, most of whom are not going to integrate into host societies, but will create national enclaves in European countries) . After hostilities began in the Donbass, 2985 requests for political asylum from the citizens of Ukraine were sent to EU countries, but only 150 people received official refugee status in the European Union, and 2335 people were refused. The remaining number of Ukrainian citizens received a different status, implying less favorable conditions than refugee status. In Poland, 2318 people applied for refugee status, but only 17 of them were given the “great honor” to receive refugee status. The Polish leadership motivates refusals to grant refugee status by the fact that military operations are conducted only on a part of the territory of Ukraine, respectively, in other regions of the country is a completely calm situation, therefore, Ukrainian citizens can migrate through their territory and in order to ensure their security they do not have to travel to the countries European Union, including in Poland. Thus, European countries are actually shaking off citizens of a country whose economic and social infrastructure has been destroyed, including through the fault of the relevant policies of the European Union and the United States. By the way, Ukraine, which is now in financial and economic, and therefore political dependence on the United States and the European Union, is likely to be forced to accept thousands of Afro-Asian refugees, since European countries no longer contain the colossal flows of people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and others Asian and African countries.
At the same time, not everything is so unequivocal for Russia. Of course, migrants bring the country a lot of trouble, but there is also a positive component in their presence. After all, Ukrainian migrants are not from Asian or African countries. They do not have language and cultural barriers and have the necessary qualifications. Russia still lacks other similar labor resources from foreign countries - the level of wages in the country will not attract the broad masses of workers from Eastern European countries, that is, the only foreign labor resources that the Russian economy can count on will be people from Central Asia.
One of the major problems of the modern world is migration, affecting, to one degree or another, practically all countries. Developed countries act as centers of gravity for foreign migrants who expect to find in them more dignified living and working conditions. For millions of people, migration is forced, because bloody wars are going on in their home countries, interethnic and religious conflicts are raging. On the other hand, living in a peaceful, but backward, impoverished country, prompts many people, especially the able-bodied and active, to look for a happier “place in the sun”. The Russian Federation is the center of attraction for migrants from almost all the republics of the former Soviet Union. They come to Russia primarily from Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Moldova, but one of the leading in terms of the number of migrants entering the territory of Russia, the former post-Soviet republics is Ukraine. The riots in Kiev and the overthrow of President Yanukovych, the fighting in the Donbas, the rapid impoverishment of the Ukrainian population — all of these factors even more spurred the growth of “Ukrainian” migration to Russia, which was always distinguished by high rates.
Causes of emigration from Ukraine - socio-economic collapse
Migrating to the Russian Federation in search of work, Ukrainian citizens began almost immediately after the collapse of the USSR and the sharp deterioration in the economic situation of sovereign Ukraine. However, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian construction brigades worked on the territory of the RSFSR. Therefore, the collapse of the Soviet Union became only a catalyst for processes that were still brewing in the 1960-e - 1970-e. First of all, the western regions of Ukraine were traditionally the source of labor migrants. Agrarian territories of Western Ukraine have never been able to provide full employment in all its numerous population. Despite the fact that in the late XIX - first half of the twentieth centuries. followed by several waves of migration to the United States and Europe from Transcarpathia, Bucovina and Galicia, then belonging to Austria-Hungary, then Czechoslovakia, Romania and Poland, and later to the Soviet Union, the western regions of Ukraine remained a place of concentration of significant labor resources.
When the Soviet Union collapsed and the transition to a market economy began in the post-Soviet republics, accompanied by de-industrialization and the destruction of industry, unemployment and the subsequent decline in the standard of living of the population contributed to the beginning of a powerful new wave of labor migration from Ukraine to other countries, primarily to the Russian Federation and to European countries. It came from the western regions of Ukraine - Transcarpathian, Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi - accounted for the bulk of labor migrants who went to work in Russia and European countries. At the same time, until recently, residents of the central regions of Ukraine, as well as the Donbass, did not show significant activity in terms of labor migration outside the country. This was due to the fact that the general standard of living and job security in the center and in the east of the country was radically different from the agrarian western regions. In the central and eastern regions of Ukraine, many industrial enterprises continued their work, which managed to survive after the country's transition to a market economy. As for the Donbass, here, despite the general decline in the standard of living, there was also a job, so the locals did not even try to move to Russia or, moreover, European countries. Another thing is the western regions of Ukraine, which have become the main supplier of cheap labor — Ukrainian “guest workers” —constructors to the Russian Federation and Europe, as well as female sex workers — to Russia, European countries, the states of the Middle East and even North Africa. Ukrainian women also took leading positions in the so-called “bride market”, trying to leave the country through marriage with foreigners. However, many of the women fell into sexual slavery in Ukraine itself or abroad - criminal groups forced them into prostitution.
According to the Ukrainian Center for Social Research, 2008 million Ukrainians worked outside of the country in 4,5, of which more than 2 million worked in the Russian Federation and another 1,7 million in the European Union. It is noteworthy that in the European Union, Ukrainians worked in countries such as Portugal, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic - that is, where the income level of the population is lower than in the more developed countries of Europe, but there is a need for low-paid workers who are ready to engage in hard and prestigious labor. . It is known that the main part of migrants from the territory of Western Ukraine goes to Italy. So, according to statistics, the main supplier of labor to Italy is the Lviv region - 40% of Ukrainian labor migrants left here. Another 10% left the Ternopil region of Ukraine, according to 10% - from the Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi regions of Ukraine. It is indicative that in the Italian direction of the Ukrainian labor migration, in contrast to the Russian direction, women predominate. They make up 80% of Ukrainian migrants in Italy. Usually, Ukrainians work in Italy for five to six years, finding employment in low-paid and unskilled jobs. Since the main part of Ukrainian migrants in the country are women, they are employed in the care of the sick and the elderly, children, and household help. A small number of Ukrainian women are also employed in industrial and agricultural enterprises.
Where do Ukrainian migrants go and work?
It should be noted that the exact number of Ukrainian migrants working abroad is extremely difficult to establish, since the majority of Ukrainian citizens leaving for work simply do not register when leaving the country as labor migrants. This is facilitated by the policy of the Ukrainian authorities, who are trying in every way to hinder the labor migration of the Ukrainian population to Russia and Europe. In 2012 was The State Statistics Committee of Ukraine reported that the working population of the country was 22,5 million. people, whereas the official place of work of them had only 12,5 million. human. Not less than 6,5 - 8 million Ukrainian citizens, according to the International Organization for Migration, at 2012 worked outside of Ukraine. In fact, every third Ukrainian of working age was at the beginning of the events on the Maidan outside the country - in earnings. In the European Union countries, it is the migrants from Ukraine who constituted the most numerous part of the legal labor migrants (Africans and Asians, mainly, penetrate the territory of the EU countries illegally). In fact, it was Ukrainian labor migrants who largely financed the Ukrainian economy “before Maidan”. Every year from the citizens of Ukraine received funds that exceed almost three times the foreign financial investment. So, if by 2012 Ukrainian migrants invested 16,8-19 billion dollars, then foreign companies and entrepreneurs - only 6,5 billion. dollars. Most Ukrainian citizens worked in the Russian Federation. Here, at construction sites, enterprises and in the field of agriculture, 42% of the total number of Ukrainian citizens working outside the country worked. Another 14% of Ukrainians worked in Poland, 13% - in Italy, 12% - in the Czech Republic. Before the outbreak of armed conflict in the Donbas, the vast majority of immigrants from Ukraine who were outside the country were residents of the western regions of Ukraine (71,6% of the total number of Ukrainian labor migrants). In general, Western Ukrainian migrants were employed in the construction industry (45%), in the field of domestic workers (18%), in agriculture (11%). The majority of Ukrainians defined their immigration in search of work abroad as forced, dictated by their lack of work and low wages at home. First of all, rural residents are looking for work outside the country, since in the villages of Western Ukraine there is practically no possibility of employment. However, rural residents, for the most part, do not have a market demand for qualifications, and therefore join the ranks of low-skilled and unskilled workers. First of all, these are construction workers of a very different profile, but mostly brigades of dressers. Secondly, these are agricultural workers - both in Russia and in countries of Eastern and Western Europe. Thirdly, it is a domestic servant - for vacancies of nannies, carers, maids, housekeepers, cooks, and cooks, mainly women from rural areas who have certain household skills but do not have the qualifications and education to work in other areas of work are employed. Finally, a certain part of Ukrainian migrants are engaged in trade. As for "intellectual migration", its number from Ukraine is relatively small (from Russia for 1990-e - 2000-e.
This high level of migration from Ukraine to other countries was the result of the completely failed social and economic policies of the Ukrainian leadership throughout the post-Soviet period. stories of this country. For more than two decades of the political sovereignty of Ukraine, under the presidents Kravchuk, Kuchma, Yushchenko, Yanukovych, conditions for the full development of the country's economy were not created. On the contrary, there was a destruction of the infrastructure that was built and developed in the Soviet era. The collapse of industry, the meager wages made many Ukrainian citizens look for work outside the country. The phenomenon of Ukrainian prostitution has become a real shame for the country. Girls and women from Ukraine, starting from the 1990-ies, make up a significant part of the “priestesses of love” in Russia, other post-Soviet republics, in the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey, and the Arab East. An even greater number of Ukrainian girls trades in prostitution on the territory of Ukraine itself. In turn, girls and women engaged in the provision of intimate services, decompose the rest of the Ukrainian women, because they instill in them the conviction of the permissibility of earning money in such a dubious way. It should be noted that not all prostitutes are involved in this business against their will and are victims of criminal activities of mafia groups. Most of them quite consciously choose their own path in life - this is how the absence of life prospects and the possibility of honest decent earnings with growing consumer demands and the desire for a “beautiful life” with minimal costs intersect. Another group of Ukrainian citizens, constituting a significant part of migrants, are persons of Gypsy nationality who also migrate through the territory of the Russian Federation, countries of Eastern and Western Europe. First of all, we are talking about the "Magyars" - Transcarpathian Gypsies who speak Hungarian and inhabit the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. At one time, the Soviet Union managed to achieve employment of the majority of the Magyars, but the destruction of industry in the post-Soviet period forced them to recall the activities of their ancestors and return to a nomadic way of life and begging.
It should be noted that at least 75% of Ukrainian migrants work outside the country illegally. This creates a number of problems, primarily for the migrants themselves, who are deprived of the opportunity to protect their own labor rights and interests, and are forced to accept any working conditions, including actually slave labor, tolerating all sorts of abuse and even crime by employers , bosses, law enforcement officers and migration services. Since in the Russian Federation the main part of Ukrainian migrants is engaged in the construction industry, the lack of proper documents inevitably entails the deterioration of working conditions. Thus, migrant builders are used to perform heavy and hazardous work, often without adhering to basic safety regulations. A very frequent occurrence at construction sites is the failure to pay in full or in part the amount of wages, late payment of wages, and all kinds of extortion from workers. Accordingly, there is no question of a standardized working day, vacations, sick leave, proper medical care and decent living conditions for illegal workers. On the other hand, the presence of a large number of illegal immigrants creates a certain threat of a criminogenic situation in the host country, creates additional risks of sanitary and epidemiological nature. For more than twenty years of the post-Soviet Ukrainian statehood, entire generations of Ukrainian citizens have grown up, oriented towards semi-slave labor outside the country - as a “guest worker”.
On the territory of the Russian Federation the vast majority of Ukrainian citizens worked and works illegally. So, in April 2008 was officially registered in Russia there were only 169 thousand of citizens of Ukraine. At the same time, the Ukrainian Center for Social Research in the same year spoke of 2 million of Ukrainian citizens working in the Russian Federation. It turns out that less than 10% of them worked officially, and the absolute majority were represented by illegals. However, it is much easier for Ukrainian workers to live and work in Russia than, say, immigrants from the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. The appearance of Ukrainians practically does not differ from the appearance of Russians, as a rule, they are fluent in Russian, do not have such significant cultural differences as the same Central Asian or Transcaucasian migrants. For many employers, migrants from Ukraine have always been definitely a more acceptable labor force than migrants from other countries in the near and far abroad. This is due to the following factors. First, as already noted, there is practically no language and cultural barrier, which facilitates the understanding of employers, direct managers and employees. Secondly, workers from Ukraine have higher professional qualifications - according to statistical data, more than half of labor migrants working in Russia have specialized professional education, including in the construction industry, where most Ukrainian labor migrants are employed. Finally, the use of labor from Ukraine deprived entrepreneurs of many potential problems that could arise with some labor migrants from other former Soviet republics (for example, the possibility of their participation in religious extremist groups or involvement in criminal activities, drug trafficking).
Maidan, war and migration
Political destabilization in Ukraine contributed to the further growth in the number of Ukrainian migrants heading to the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, already in 2013 in Russia, voices began to be heard in support of restricting migration from the territory of Ukraine. Thus, the director of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation Konstantin Romodanovsky, back in 2013, stated that the Russian Federation could deport thousands of Ukrainian citizens from the territory of the country 700. According to the official, in 2013, there were about 1,5 million of Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation, of whom only 111 thousand people were legally employed, 350 thousand - studied in Russian universities or stayed with relatives, and the rest more than a million people did not have legal grounds for employment and employment in the Russian Federation. Considering the constant presence of 1,5-2 million Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation (it is quite likely that these are not marginal numbers), the policy of the Ukrainian leadership looked as surprising as it strongly interfered with and resisted integration policy, including joining the Customs Union. If Ukraine did not want to integrate at the political and economic level, then why was Russia obliged to accept on its territory millions of foreign citizens who work without official permission to work and who are generally in the territory of the country almost illegally? If Ukraine was focused on integration into the European Union, then it would not be more expedient to redirect the flow of migrants to Europe, rather than to allow them to be uncontrolled on the territory of the Russian Federation? The ambiguity of the answers to these questions is obvious. After all, Ukrainians are the closest, like the Belarusians, in terms of language and culture with respect to the Russian Eastern European nation. Naturally, a worker - a citizen of Ukraine is much more profitable for a Russian employer than an employee from any Asian state, and for ordinary Russian citizens it is preferable to see as not so culturally different Ukrainian citizens as permanent neighbors.
Significant liberalization of migration policy towards Ukrainian citizens followed, oddly enough, in 2014, after the government of President Yanukovych was overthrown in Kiev as a result of riots. The main reason for the relaxation of migration policy towards Ukrainian citizens was the beginning of the armed conflict in the Donbas. The bloody war that claimed the lives of thousands of civilians was the main reason for which, guided by humanitarian considerations, the Russian leadership ordered the migration services to extend permits for temporary stay in the Russian Federation for all Ukrainian citizens. This relief, however, was actively used not only by refugees from the belligerent Donbass, but also by the same labor migrants, as well as persons who did not want to go to serve in the Ukrainian army after the start of partial mobilization. The main part of the citizens of Ukraine who entered the territory of the Kursk, Voronezh, Bryansk, Oryol, Rostov regions in 2014-2015. was represented by refugees from the territory of the belligerent Donbass - Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. It should be noted that the overwhelming majority of them do not have any cultural or linguistic differences from the Russian population of the neighboring regions of the Russian Federation, a significant part of them position themselves exclusively as Russians. From the very beginning of the armed conflict in the Donbass, the Russian Federation created all the conditions for accommodating refugees in the country, providing specially equipped refugee reception points for this purpose and organizing their transportation from the country's border areas to inland regions, up to Siberia and the Far East - at will the refugees themselves. At the same time, when the situation in the Donbass somewhat normalized, a significant part of the refugees reached home - after all, people forcedly fled to Russia, saving their lives, and there, in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, they remained at home, households who did not want to leave their relatives and close.
The number of refugees fleeing the war in the Russian Federation remains less numerous than the number of labor migrants. Thus, according to official data, currently in the Russian Federation over 300 temporary accommodation centers continue to function, in which there are more than 17 thousand citizens of Ukraine, including 5,5 thousand children. In the temporary accommodation centers, refugees find shelter and food, as well as medical care. Then from the TAC, the refugees are moved to the regions of the country. Most of the temporary accommodation centers operate on the basis of educational institutions, in sanatoriums, rest homes, children's health camps. Depending on the scale of the activity, one TAP can accommodate from fifty to several thousand people. It is worth emphasizing that refugees located in temporary accommodation centers should not be confused with those refugees who are in regions of the country. The latter are much more, since TACs are only the first stage in the placement of refugees in the country, and many citizens of Ukraine enter Russia and then set up on the spot, bypassing TACs. Someone gets a job and rents housing independently, someone uses the help of relatives, friends and acquaintances living in Russia (the latter is especially developed in the Rostov region, whose population has close ties with the population of the neighboring Donetsk and Lugansk regions, in fact representing one cultural region).
21 October 2015 it became known that the governor of the Rostov region Vasily Golubev (namely, the Rostov region laid the main burden of responsibility for receiving thousands of refugees from the Donbass) ordered to cancel the emergency situation in 39 from the 55 municipalities of the Rostov region. This decision is due to the fact that the improvement of the political and economic situation in the south-eastern regions of Ukraine contributes to the reduction of the number of refugees in temporary accommodation centers in the Rostov region. However, in the 16 municipalities, located directly on the border with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, the state of emergency remains. According to media reports, currently in the Rostov region there are more than 28 of thousands of Ukrainian citizens, most of whom are accommodated with relatives and friends, and only a little more than a thousand people continue to be in temporary accommodation centers.
Since 1 on April 2014, more than 1 million people who are citizens of Ukraine - residents of the south-eastern regions of the country arrived in Russia. Of these, 400 thousand people received the status of temporary asylum, 200 thousand people - temporary residence permits. By 1 February 2015, according to the Central Data Bank for Accounting for Foreign Citizens, in the Russian Federation there were at least 2,5 million of citizens of Ukraine, which is almost a million people more than last year - in February 2014, in the Russian Federation, there were only 1,6 million citizens of Ukraine. It is noteworthy that in almost a year the number of Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation did not change significantly. Thus, according to the Federal Migration Service, by October 2015, more than 2,6 million citizens of Ukraine were in the territory of the Russian Federation. Of these, about a million people are refugees from the territory of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, and the rest more than one and a half million people are mainly labor migrants.
Pros and cons of migration
As Vadim Yakovenko, deputy head of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, said, at present more than 600 of thousands of Ukrainian citizens violate their stay in the Russian Federation. If during the current month they are not legalized or do not leave the country’s borders, by December 1 they will face administrative punishment, including deportation and closure of entry into the territory of the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that the grace period of stay of Ukrainian citizens in the Russian Federation expired on November 1 2015, the Federal Migration Service provided another 30 days so that citizens of Ukraine who are in the Russian Federation could come to the migration service authorities and legalize their position , including issuing a work permit in the Russian Federation. According to the responsible official of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, no sanctions will be imposed on those citizens of Ukraine who will contact the migration service authorities before December 1 2015. That is, those of Ukrainian labor migrants who register with the FMS will be able to continue their work activities on the territory of the Russian Federation without hindrance.
As we see, Russia, already after those terrible two years of war in the Donbass and riotous anti-Russian hysteria in Ukraine, continues to show humanism towards Ukrainian citizens. By the way, many of them have long lost their actual connection with their homeland, constantly living and working in the territory of the Russian Federation. Of course, for Russia they look a much more culturally and linguistically preferable group of migrants than people from other states. But there are certain nuances. Firstly, the anti-Russian hysteria unleashed by the Ukrainian leadership, to one degree or another, has an informational influence on a part of Ukrainian citizens living in the Russian Federation. It is possible that some of the latter, sympathizing with the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism, may carry out anti-state activities on the territory of the Russian Federation. The political trustworthiness of foreign citizens is much better controlled if they are legally in the country, are officially employed, have registration and all other necessary documents. Otherwise, the country may face a number of problems delivered by unregistered and uncontrolled foreign citizens. Secondly, the lack of legal employment entails numerous economic losses associated with tax evasion. Allowing illegal immigrants to stay on the territory of the country, regardless of their country of origin, is unattainable luxury, and, in difficult modern conditions, is also nonsense. Moreover, unemployment has also increased among Russian citizens, respectively, the need for foreign labor has gradually decreased. Third, Kiev’s demonstratively anti-Russian policy, expressed even in the symbolic rejection of everything connected with Russia and Russian history, leaves Moscow no choice but to use the whole range of its instruments of influence against the Ukrainian authorities. Ukrainian labor migrants in the Russian Federation are one of these instruments of influence, since their return to Ukraine will create enormous problems for the Kiev government. Fourthly, the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian illegal immigrants from the country, if it happens, will also become a good “poke” for the European Union and the United States, which currently provide actual funding for the Ukrainian government. After all, all the deportees will have to be recruited - and for this, modern Ukraine has neither jobs nor opportunities to create them. There is another option - to provide new arrivals with any social benefits, but the latter is also possible in the case of financial assistance from the West. The latter will not want to feed at its own expense Ukrainian citizens, whose problems the Kiev leadership is unable to solve. If you don’t feed them, migrants will rush to Europe, which, in fact, is already happening now. The deterioration of relations with Russia contributed to the fact that a significant part of potential Ukrainian labor migrants shifted to migration to European countries. First in line - Poland and the Czech Republic. According to the director of the European Center for Geopolitical Analysis Mateusz Piskorski, “there are currently about one and a half million labor migrants from Ukraine in Poland. There is already a wave of discontent among the Polish trade unions in various industries - those who believe that the presence of such a large group of labor migrants does not contribute to the improvement of conditions in the Polish labor market ”(Tsit. by: http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2680715). Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian migrants go to Poland, since the standard of living in Poland, generally low enough for the European Union, is completely incompatible with the poverty of modern Ukraine. Ukrainian migrants are a popular topic for discussion in Polish society. Even the series has appeared - "Girls from Lviv". At the appointed time, Polish citizens rush to the TV - to see how the next day developed for Polina, Uliana, Sveta and Olesya - Ukrainian girls who left their native Lviv and arrived in Warsaw to find a job and, generally, a better life. The series is in demand because the problem is really topical for Polish society. Not far behind and neighboring Czech Republic. Its president, Miloš Zeman, was back in August 2015.
However, as evidenced by the events held by the authorities of most European countries, the European Union as a whole is not happy with the mass migration of Ukrainian citizens. Thus, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have long begun to strengthen their borders with Ukraine. Denial of visas to Ukrainian citizens is today a mass phenomenon in the EU countries. Thus, in Belgium, every tenth Ukrainian citizen is denied a visa. In Sweden, the number of failures varies between 4,5%, in Switzerland - also 4,5%, Finland - 4,5%, the Netherlands - 4,2%. The number of refusals of visas to Switzerland increased almost three times, 2,6 times increased - visas to Spain and 2,2 times increased - visas to Portugal. It is significant that the EU countries are much more willing to accept citizens of Syria, Somalia and Eritrea, than citizens of Ukraine. Although Ukrainians seem to have much less cultural differences with European nations and are able to more quickly and efficiently integrate into European society (unlike Afro-Asian migrants, most of whom are not going to integrate into host societies, but will create national enclaves in European countries) . After hostilities began in the Donbass, 2985 requests for political asylum from the citizens of Ukraine were sent to EU countries, but only 150 people received official refugee status in the European Union, and 2335 people were refused. The remaining number of Ukrainian citizens received a different status, implying less favorable conditions than refugee status. In Poland, 2318 people applied for refugee status, but only 17 of them were given the “great honor” to receive refugee status. The Polish leadership motivates refusals to grant refugee status by the fact that military operations are conducted only on a part of the territory of Ukraine, respectively, in other regions of the country is a completely calm situation, therefore, Ukrainian citizens can migrate through their territory and in order to ensure their security they do not have to travel to the countries European Union, including in Poland. Thus, European countries are actually shaking off citizens of a country whose economic and social infrastructure has been destroyed, including through the fault of the relevant policies of the European Union and the United States. By the way, Ukraine, which is now in financial and economic, and therefore political dependence on the United States and the European Union, is likely to be forced to accept thousands of Afro-Asian refugees, since European countries no longer contain the colossal flows of people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and others Asian and African countries.
At the same time, not everything is so unequivocal for Russia. Of course, migrants bring the country a lot of trouble, but there is also a positive component in their presence. After all, Ukrainian migrants are not from Asian or African countries. They do not have language and cultural barriers and have the necessary qualifications. Russia still lacks other similar labor resources from foreign countries - the level of wages in the country will not attract the broad masses of workers from Eastern European countries, that is, the only foreign labor resources that the Russian economy can count on will be people from Central Asia.
- P P 'SЊSЏ RџRѕR "RѕRЅSЃRєRёR№
- http://slavbazar.org/, http://ua-reporter.com/, newsradio.com.ua, veroyatno.com.ua
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