Economic Migration in Post-Soviet Central Asia: The Case of Kyrgyzstan

The article explores economic reform in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan and focuses on its impact on the country ’ s labour market and economic migration. Mass and rapid privatisation and `shock therapy ’ have been perceived as the pillars of change in the country. However, the reform was accompanied by a number of negative factors, including fast-growing unemployment, poverty, a sharp decline in industrial and agricultural output and loss of foreign markets. All together, these problems have led to contraction of the local labour market and mass out ¯ ow of the economically active part of the population. Using the example of Kyrgyzstan the author assesses the interconnection between economic decline and economic migration in the post-Soviet era. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the abandoning of strict state regulation of population movement, the newly independent Central Asian republics (CARs) have experienced signi ® cant ¯ uctuation in population movement. Migration of people in some parts of the region turned into a spontaneous