Focus Areas

Throughout the region, economic dislocation has led millions of adults in the prime of their working years to uproot themselves and undertake difficult, even perilous, journeys in search of subsistence for their families and communities. The main destination for labor migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus is Russia, though the phenomenon encompasses rural dwellers leaving their remote villages for work in regional cities as well. The poorest countries in the region are increasingly dependent on these migrants’ foreign remittances.

In many destinations, largely illegal populations of workers are often preyed upon by unscrupulous employers or corrupt law enforcement officials; in Russia, violent gangs may victimize migrants unchecked by police. In cooperation with local Soros foundations in the region, the Central Eurasia Project is sponsoring efforts to improve understanding of the economic importance of migration and its social impacts, and to help improve conditions for migrants.