TOMSK, Jul 11 - RIA Tomsk. The integration of migrants in Russia become the object of
research of Tomsk State University (TSU) anthropologists. They study migration
processes for more than 20 years, recently have been collecting data on the infrastructure
used by migrants in Tomsk and Irkutsk. What conclusions did the scientists come
to - in the material of RIA Tomsk.
Earlier it was reported that anthropologists of TSU
will conduct a large-scale migration study in Tomsk and Irkutsk. Scientists
will study the places of resettlement of visitors, learn how they master the
urban infrastructure and create their own. They will also determine whether
migrants can be a source of conflict over the “distribution” of urban space and
will study how the authorities and media resolve and interpret such situations.
The study was supported by a grant of the Russian
Science Foundation (RSF) and will last until the end of 2020.
There are no migrant ghettoes
As the press service of the university reported on
Thursday, within the framework of the study, anthropologists of TSU studied the
urban infrastructure of Tomsk and Irkutsk, which is used by migrants in
everyday life: hairdressers, cafes, schools.
Scientists have found that, unlike the West, isolated
migrant ghettos are not created in Russia. The integration of migrants is more
successful, since most of them - are visitors from the former republics of the
USSR - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. In addition, successful
adaptation is promoted by the public policy aimed at assimilation and the
formation of comfortable conditions for resettlement.
“If we talk about migrants in the West, there created
such an infrastructure which is only migrant one, there are enclaves, ghettos,
for example, Chinatowns. Studies in Russia show that we don’t get ghettoized”,
- the head of the TSU Laboratory for Social and Anthropological Research,
Professor Irina Nam is quoted in the message.
© сайт Томского государственного университета
The professor of TSU Irina Nam
During the study in Tomsk and Irkutsk scientists did
not identify places where only migrants would live, where only they would work,
go to hairdressing salons and so on.
"Of course, there are places where they are more
visible, for example, markets. However, if migrants work in the market, they
trade for the entire population. If they create cafes, then not only for
migrants. There are many ethnic cafes in Tomsk, there are East European
cuisine, many students go there”, - adds Nam.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
.
Project work
While working on the project, TSU scientists processed
300 questionnaires, 60 interviews, and several included observations. They
presented the results of the work at the 13th Congress of Russia's
Anthropologists and Ethnologists, which was held in early July in Kazan. In
particular, Nam told about the significance of national-cultural autonomies in
Tomsk for the adaptation of migrants, which, in her opinion, is exaggerated.
"When we interviewed the leaders of autonomies,
officials, it seemed that these organizations play a large role in the lives of
migrants. But when we talked to the migrants themselves, it turned out that
they know little about autonomies, few people go to their events - national
holidays, for example. The majority most actively attend the City Day, New
Year, May 9”, - the press service cites her words.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
Uzbek diaspora cooked pilaf for Tomsk resident day
The results of this study, according to scientists of
TSU, will allow to propose adequate approaches to the formation of migration
policy, improve the policy of adaptation and integration of migrants and reduce
the level of conflicts between Russians and visitors from abroad.
According to the TSU press service, migration
processes have been studied at Tomsk State University for more than 20 years as
part of projects of the Network for Ethnological Monitoring and Early Warning
of Conflicts, for the last 5 years - as part of the mega-project “Man in a
Changing World. Problems of Identity and Social Adaptation in History and at
Present".