Over 2.5 million of Russia’s estimated 11.6 million migrants are thought to come from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). Dubbed the ‘world’s largest migration corridor’, Russia and the Central Asian states have become mutually dependent on migration as the former relies on an imported labour force and the latter on the flow of remittances. However, despite the mutual gains, Central Asian migrants in Russia are frequently subjected to discrimination, stigmatisation, bullying, harassment and hate crime. This is compounded by a generally poor quality of life amongst labour migrants in Russia, and results in the social and economic ostracism of Central Asian migrant communities throughout the country.

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