‘Packing Our Bags’ – Exodus of Ethnic Russians Continues from Central Asia
Unable to find work and feeling increasingly isolated from her relatives, Tatiana Lopatina finally has decided it is time to pack-up and move from Kazakhstan to her ancestral homeland: Russia.
The 52-year-old former sports teacher will join the millions of ethnic Russians who have left Central Asia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, dismayed by shrinking job opportunities and political marginalization, and no longer feeling at home as the region drifts from Moscow’s cultural and linguistic orbit.
“The work situation is very difficult here. And when you’re no longer young, it becomes doubly problematic,” Lopatina told AFP.
Russians made up about a fifth of Central Asia’s population at the time of the Soviet collapse, but that figure is now five percent, with tens of thousands more leaving each year. While they enjoyed a privileged position during the Soviet Union era, many have suffered a social downgrade since the five Central Asian states became independent.
“The decision to leave Kazakhstan has been taken. We’re going to give up our Kazakh passports to receive Russian passports,” Lopatina told AFP.
With her husband, Dmitry, they plan to move to the Siberian city of Omsk, where they have family roots.
Return to the motherland
Russia, which has a shortage of workers, an ageing population and a low fertility rate, has welcomed the arrival of hundreds of thousands of new citizens.
The Kremlin has long warned of a looming demographic crisis, described by Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin as the country’s “most important challenge”.
In March he called for a step-up in efforts to support the “return of our compatriots”.
Since 2006, Russia has offered relocation allowances to those moving to the homeland of their parents or grandparents, providing them with unemployment benefits and sometimes even land.
Around 1.2 million people have immigrated to Russia under the scheme, mainly from Central Asia; a figure that does not include those who emigrated outside of government channels.
But since Russia invaded Ukraine, moving to Russia has become less attractive.
In 2024, only 31,700 people took up the offer, the lowest level in 14 years.
Authorities launched a new scheme for compatriots last year in the hope of boosting take-up, with less stringent conditions for obtaining citizenship but no financial benefits.
‘Nothing here has changed’
Many ethnic Russians in Central Asia share the same story.
Their parents were sent there under the Soviet Union to develop agriculture in the steppes of Kazakhstan, extract raw materials from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, build cities in Uzbekistan or irrigation canals in the desert of Turkmenistan.
Although they praise the beauty of their country and the kindness of the local people, they no longer see prospects for themselves and their children, despite the region’s rapid development.
“Maybe some see something, but I, for one, see absolutely nothing at the moment,” said 50-year-old tour guide Lyubov Tyasova, who is leaving her small town of Orlovka in Kyrgyzstan.
She laments a lack of opportunity in the town, which until the 1990s was majority Russian.
“Absolutely nothing here has changed in 30 years… I see my children’s future in Russia. A future in stable jobs and prosperous cities,” she told AFP.
To many, Russia is a lifeline, despite the low wages in some regions.
When the Russian relocation program was launched in 2006, “moving was out of the question because I felt good in Kazakhstan”, Lopatina said.
But calls from family telling them to move, memories of summer holidays in Moscow, and the poor job situation in Kazakhstan eventually won out.
‘No prospects’
The strengthening of Central Asian identities, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine, has made many ethnic Russians feel marginalized.
“I don’t think I can find work because I don’t speak Turkmen,” 48-year-old former civil servant Nikolai told AFP.
He moved to the Russian city of Voronezh, seeing “no prospects in Turkmenistan”.
In Uzbekistan, Semyon, a 35-year-old computer scientist, wants his two daughters to be in a Russian-speaking environment. He is selling his flat, like Valentina and Konstantin in Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital.
“We are starting to pack our bags and as soon as we find a buyer, we will leave,” said Valentina.
“We will miss Turkmenistan, the year-round sunshine and the peace and quiet. We will have to start all over again… but it will be easier to find work in Russia,” she added.
Source: AFP