The Guardian has published an alarming report on the fallout of the rouble devaluation for Russia’s neighbors.

 

The migrants from the former Soviet republics that the country used to rely on so heavily are considering going back home because their earnings were halved by the foreign exchange fluctuations.

 

“Russia’s rouble crisis poses threat to nine countries relying on remittances,” says the Guardian’s Shaun Walker.

 

“According to data projections based on World Bank figures, nine countries that rely heavily on roubles sent home from Russia could collectively lose more than $10bn in 2015,” he adds.

 

“I’ve sacrificed starting a family, I’ve sacrificed any kind of normal life to work here, and now I’m only able to send home a few hundred dollars a month,” the newspapers quotes Aziz, a car mechanic, as saying.

Amid harsher rules for obtaining work permits, millions of migrant workers are scratching their heads whether they’d rather leave.

“The tendency could be problematic for Russia too, which is expected to rely on immigrant labour for the formidable building projects as the country prepares to host the 2018 World Cup”

“21% of Armenia’s economy, 12% of Georgia’s, 31.5% of Kyrgyzstan’s, 25% of Moldova’s, 42% of Tajikistan’s, 5.5% of Ukraine’s, 4.5% of Lithuania’s, 2.5% of Azerbaijan’s and 12% of Uzbekistan’s, rely on remittances,” the newspaper cites the World Bank data.

Earlier, Russia-IC reported on the survey by Pew Research which put Russia second in the number of migrant workers. Based on the data from the United Nations and the World Bank, the study looks at the shifts in patterns of global migration and remittances.

The list of the destination countries is topped by the US, with 45.8 million, while second place Russia has become a second home for 11 million migrants.

Surprisingly, the number of migrants in Russia has remained flat since 1990, unlike the US where it doubled.

In terms of remittances, which is the money they send their families, Russia is far below the world’s leaders like India, with $71 billion, China, with $60 billion, and the Philippines, with 26 billion. The amount of remittances from Russia totals just $6.4 billion.

According to Pew Research, the “total number of international migrants rose from 154 million in 1990 to 232 million in 2013 – but remained steady as a 3 percent share of the globe’s growing population.”

The full report is available here.

The issue of migrants has come into spotlight repeatedly over the past years, with many called for a visa regime to be introduced between Russia and the CIS countries, including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 

Just recently, the killing of a young man sparked protests and violence in southern Moscow and the shutdown of a major vegetable storage depot.

Sources: http://www.theguardian.com