Class
Article
College
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Erin Trouth Hofmann
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
The disruptions to migration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were particularly notable in the former Soviet Union, because before the pandemic the region experienced levels of circular and labor migration, and comparatively lax restrictions on international mobility. Kyrgyzstan and other FSU states are heavily dependent on migrant remittances from Russia, making the border closures and other restrictions during the pandemic a major source of hardship. This paper draws on 20 interviews with citizens of Kyrgyzstan who returned from Russia after March 2020. We ask how individuals and families made the decision to return to Kyrgyzstan in the chaotic and uncertain context of the pandemic and pandemic-related border closures, and how they were to reintegrate into their communities when they did return. We looked specifically for gender differences in the ease or difficulty of return migration and in the reintegration process. The study contributes to the body of literature in understanding the gender-family influence in the process of decision making of return migration and reintegration into society, in addition to identifying impacts of pandemic-related border closings on migration and migrants. Existing literature on migration and the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the extreme vulnerability of immigrants during the pandemic, and the many sources of this vulnerability. So far there has been little research on the factors that facilitated or hindered return migration during the pandemic, or on the differences between pandemic return migration and return migration in other times.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Return Migration, Reintegration, and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From Kyrgyzstan
Logan, UT
The disruptions to migration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were particularly notable in the former Soviet Union, because before the pandemic the region experienced levels of circular and labor migration, and comparatively lax restrictions on international mobility. Kyrgyzstan and other FSU states are heavily dependent on migrant remittances from Russia, making the border closures and other restrictions during the pandemic a major source of hardship. This paper draws on 20 interviews with citizens of Kyrgyzstan who returned from Russia after March 2020. We ask how individuals and families made the decision to return to Kyrgyzstan in the chaotic and uncertain context of the pandemic and pandemic-related border closures, and how they were to reintegrate into their communities when they did return. We looked specifically for gender differences in the ease or difficulty of return migration and in the reintegration process. The study contributes to the body of literature in understanding the gender-family influence in the process of decision making of return migration and reintegration into society, in addition to identifying impacts of pandemic-related border closings on migration and migrants. Existing literature on migration and the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the extreme vulnerability of immigrants during the pandemic, and the many sources of this vulnerability. So far there has been little research on the factors that facilitated or hindered return migration during the pandemic, or on the differences between pandemic return migration and return migration in other times.