In case of the economic crisis preserving and growing, we have to expect much outflow of migrants from Russia, 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.
"I do not predict full re-orientation of migrants towards other countries in the near future. The migrants are possible to find new niches in the Russian economy more actively. Everything depends on duration of the crisis, its depth, and on the fact, what sectors of economy it will touch. We cannot yet assess it strictly. However, the data of 2014 show a certain decrease of the money transfers from Russia to the countries of Central Asia and certain decrease of the number of migrants, for instance, from Uzbekistan by about 10%.
To be honest, here not only the economic crisis is the reason, but also the harsher policy on decrease of migration conducted by Russia this year",- he said.
He also added that labor migrants from Central Asia also migrate to Turkey, Korea, Europe, Arab countries and Kazakhstan, from Ukraine and Moldova - to Europe and Turkey. "Nevertheless, at present, the main mass of the labor migrants leave for Russia because of several factors: no visa regime, the practice of informal employment used in Russia, the railway and motorway communication, certain habitability of the Russian language and culture for the former Soviet area and personal links between residents of the former Soviet republics", -he concluded.