The flow of migrants into Europe has made experts analyze the migration policy in Russia. It turned out that one of the most successful regions which receives migrants is the multinational and economically stable Republic of Tatarstan. Today 173 ethnicities live in the republic. Thirty-five national-cultural associations have been established, including the Assembly of the Peoples Republic of Tatarstan. This is one of the factors of attractiveness of the region for migrants. In addition, there are many confessions in the republic. The Muslim confession becomes a center of attraction for migrants from Central Asia. And if you look at the statistics of migrants arriving in the Republic of Tatarstan, Uzbekistan is in first place, with about 68% of migrant workers, then Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.
A member of the Public Chamber of Tatarstan and expert on migration issues, Lilia Taisheva, says that there is such a term in Tatarstan as the relative-return type of migration: "Those who have relatives, friends, or just work there, invite others to the republic on the basis of the ‘word of mouth’ principle.’’
According to the expert, today there are 47,000 foreigners in Tatarstan. 20,500 of them have already received temporary residence permits. During the last 6 months of this year 1000 migrants received Russian citizenship in the Republic of Tatarstan. 19,500 patents and 2500 thousand work permits were issued in the Republic as of August 14th.
Meanwhile, according to Taisheva, the nature of migration is changing greatly, ‘‘today young people arrive in Russia, and probably in the Republic of Tatarstan, but they have insufficient knowledge of the language or culture and insufficient skills for a comfortable stay in an urban environment. Accordingly, the republic makes serious efforts in order for them to adapt and integrate into the community.
According to the strategy for the socio-economic development of Tatarstan until 2030, ‘‘Tatarstan is a growing region with high fertility and a sustainable migration influx of the population." We have a unique strategy for human rights. It is the only region which has adopted such a strategy on human rights in Russia until 2018. And there is such a section as introductory and orientational courses for migrants. Each migrant who arrives in the Republic must participate in a short introductory briefing about permitted and prohibited things in the republic, as well as about potentials, including the potential of the labor market and the market potential of public services. Accordingly, we consider it to be crime prevention, the prevention of some extremist sentiments. Each person after arriving should submit documents in order to obtain a patent. Then he should be briefed. The migrant must be explained in their native languages the rules of their stay in the Republic of Tatarstan,’’ Taisheva says.
According to her, Tatarstan has managed to find a balance between hospitality and friendliness, on the one hand, and permissiveness on the other; between respect for human rights and the rights of migrants.
