Kyrgyz Alarmed at Russian Ban on Traders

Russia’s decision to ban market traders from other countries could affect the livelihoods of some 100,000 Kyrgyzstan nationals. Regardless of how many are forced to return home, the measure will have a significant impact on the Kyrgyz economy.



Laws designed to set a quota on labour migrants and subsequently ban them from working at Russian markets came into force in January. By April 1, foreign nationals should account for no more than 40 per cent of the total number of market traders and street vendors. After that date, they will be banned from working in these sectors altogether.



Speaking on January 16, Aygul Ryskulova, who heads the government’s Committee for Migration and Employment, said the changes could leave up to 100,000 Kyrgyz citizens unemployed.



Official statistics show 283,000 Kyrgyzstan nationals working in Russia, although other sources, citing seasonal migration factors, say the number is closer to 700,000.



Emil Imakeev, deputy head of the external migration department within Ryskolova’s committee, told NBCentralAsia that since Russia announced the new laws, the Kyrgyz authorities have been working to mitigate the possible consequences for migrant workers. He said it will be possible to provide some returning migrants with jobs, and to this end the government recently introduced rules banning non-Kyrgyzstan nationals from working at markets and establishing a 10 per cent quota for them in other retail sectors.



The migration committee has also designed a programme to train people as plumbers, welders and service-sector workers to make it possible for them to find other kinds of work in Russia.



Despite this, Kubanychbek Isabekov, who is deputy speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament and heads its commission on labour migration, predicts that the socioeconomic situation will deteriorate as a result of the new Russian rules. The many families whose breadwinners are away in Russia will see their money remittances fall, while those migrants who return home will contribute to rising unemployment and crime.



In addition, Isabekov believes Kyrgyzstan will lose thousands of citizens as they seek Russian citizenship in order to be able to stay there. As of the end of 2005, 38,000 Kyrgyz citizens had acquired Russian nationality, and this number may have risen to 80,000 people.



Bolotbek Asanakunov, director of the Association of Towns, doubts that the country is ill-prepared to cope with an influx of returning migrants, especially as most of them come from smaller towns. “These towns face many unresolved problems - unemployment, industrial stagnation and a shortage of teachers and doctors - and they are not ready to have them [migrants] back,” he said.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)