"I think, xenophobic and migrant-phobic slogans are now used by all the major political forces, starting from government officials to opposition," Sergei Abashin, Doctor of Science in History, Professor at the Department of Anthropology, Named Professor of Migration Studies (British Petroleum Professorship), told ArmInfo in an online press-conference.
"The issue of 'aliens' and 'migrant-workers' has become a populist topic that everyone engaged in politics seeks to use. Besides political interest, the issue has become an intellectual and media cliche," he said. The professor believes that numerous bans for labor migrants and the difficulties they face when seeking naturalization in Russia rest upon the domestic policy.
Abashin is sure that the Russian authorities have decided to use migrant-phobia and xenophobia to manipulate on populist slogans and sentiments. Politicians can easily use the image of a 'foreigner' and 'outsider' and blame them for all the problems and to re-direct the public discontent at migrants. Furthermore, Abashin said, people with uncertain legal status are under pressure and it is easy to exploit them.
The press conference was organized with the support from the UK Embassy in Armenia as part of the project "Urgent Dialogue fore Armenian Media" implemented by the Region Research Center.