The Russian Language and Workers from Central Asia Migrating to Russia

This paper reviews historical, economic and social reasons for working people to migrate from five Central Asian Republics (CARs) to Russia in the early 21st Century. Relationships between Russia and the five Central Asian States changed dramatically after the USSR collapse and in the ensuing three decades, large numbers of workers from Central Asia migrated to Russia. It became imperative for migrating workers to learn Russian to mingle socially and gain economic benefits. Russian-speaking workers amalgamated well in Russia and their remittances improved the GDPs of their home states. However, with greater numbers of migrating workers, Russia imposed new migration laws that required better competence in Russian, which resulted in new difficulties and challenges for migrants and those who aspired to move to Russia for work.