The Changing Face of Migration\u00a0<\/p>\n
St. Petersburg:\u00a0 a Russian megalopolis
\nin which migrant labor is in high demand.\u00a0 According to research
\non the migrant\/ethnic minority economy, migrant laborers typically find
\nwork in various small businesses.\u00a0 The areas of the economy in
\nwhich migrant laborers in St. Petersburg most typically seek work-indeed,
\nas is true in many other Russian cities-are construction or retail\/small-scale
\nwholesale trade.\u00a0 In the government\u2019s eyes, the main problems
\nwith respect to migrant workers are the illegal nature of the migration
\nitself and the non-receipt of tax payments from the economic activity
\nof these laborers.\u00a0 For human rights workers, however, the main
\nconcern lies elsewhere:\u00a0 these migrants are often unable to exercise
\ntheir rights and freedoms, and as a result, they often end up as a discriminated-against
\nminority group, completely without rights.\u00a0 In large part, this
\nsituation is related to a lack of access to information about the practical
\nside of life in the guest country:\u00a0 migrants do not know where
\nand how to look properly for work, who is required to provide them with
\nall of the necessary social safeguards-with respect to housing, medical
\nhelp, education for children, etc.<\/p>\n
The bulk of the research presents the
\ngovernment\u2019s perspective and touches upon the possibility for regulating
\nmigration and taking a full account of the numbers of migrants.
\nAs for the voice of the migrants themselves, their point of view on
\nthe problems that exist-as a rule, it is ignored.\u00a0 All of this
\nmakes the creation of an all-inclusive work program (a program that
\nwould help migrant laborers resolve the problems that they frequently
\nface) and protection of their rights more difficult.\u00a0 After all,
\nwhen changing their place of residence, migrants are not just moving
\nfrom one inhabited locality to another, but rather are completely re-shaping
\ntheir living circumstances and fundamentally changing the structure
\nof their lives.\u00a0 Moreover, in the last few years, there has been
\na new trend in migration. Migrant laborers\u2019 gender profile is gradually
\nchanging:\u00a0 the typical migrant laborer is no longer a male; there
\nis more and more migration of females and families.\u00a0 This new tendency
\nhas a whole range of consequences, including the transformation of gender
\ncontracts and relations in the family, new social problems, and a series
\nof new problems related to migrants\u2019 rights, which is inevitable,
\nas now women\u2019s and children\u2019s issues must be taken into consideration.<\/p>\n
Olga Tkach, The Center for Independent
\nSocial Research, St. Petersburg, Russia