Abstract:

This paper examines the impact of migrant precarity and exploitation within the broader context of global mobility. Drawing on a case study of Uzbek immigrants in Sweden, Russia and Turkey, the study aims to shed light on the often-hidden and precarious lives of this community, unveiling their daily coping strategies.

Even though undocumented status emerges as a central theme in these three migration-regime contexts, having a fluid effect on migrants’ lifeworlds depending on geographic, contextual and immigration legal regime-specific conditions. A substantial segment of Uzbek migrant workers in these three migration regimes, predominantly employed in sectors like cleaning, construction, and restaurants, fall victim to unscrupulous employers offering minimal wages or charging fees for facilitation services. However, their lifeworlds, coping strategies and agency are contingent on the existence of unofficial and extra-legal channels and strategies that provide alternative means of redress and adaptation into the host society and the labour market. Contributing to discussions on the nexus between informal economies and migrant labour, the research illustrates that migrants "working under shadows" are migration regime-specific in terms of creating vulnerabilities, radicalisation and the formation of ethnic enclaves.

Using ethnographic methods, the research examines the context-specific strategies migrants employ to negotiate the complex landscape of legal regulations and informal practices. Understanding the dynamic interplay between formal laws and informal institutions is crucial to comprehend the challenges and opportunities migrants face in their quest for mobility.

By focusing on migrants’ informal practices in Sweden, Russia and Turkey, the paper aims to uncover fluid and context-dependent adaptive strategies migrants employ to navigate, utilise, and resist laws regulating their working conditions. This exploration contributes to the broader discourse on global mobility law, addressing norms, legal geographies, and theoretical perspectives in understanding the complexities surrounding migrant precarity and exploitation.

Abstract:

Poland belongs to the UE. However, from the point of view of modern history, it is a part of the former Eastern Bloc, politically connected to the Soviet Union (where the state language was Russian, which, like Polish, belongs to a group of Slavic languages). Recently, the country has experienced increasing intensification of migration from Central Asia. Over the last three years, foreigners from Central Asia have submitted 29,000 applications for temporary residence permits, half of which (15,000) concerned citizens of Uzbekistan. In addition, as human rights deteriorate in Central Asia, more people have applied for international protection, as Poland, due to its geographic position, is relatively easy to reach. Some newcomers perceive Poland as a stop on their journeys to the Western EU, while others consider it their permanent destination. Consequently, in addition to labor migration, since 2015, Poland has become a hub of the Tajik opposition. Opposition journalists, artists, and activists from other Central Asian countries are also present in Warsaw.

The primary goal of this presentation is to discuss the process of new network formation and group dynamics among migrants and political refugees from Central Asia who have come to Poland. I apply a primary assumption of social network analysis: social ties function as channels for disseminating material and nonmaterial resources (Everton, 2015). Examining the socio-political landscape and the lived experiences of new migrants elucidates the mechanisms by which networks and groups are established within their newfound environment. The presentation is based on various research material collected in Tajikistan (October 2015, after the crackdown of the opposition in Tajikistan), during my research on religion and migrants in Moscow, interviews with refugees and migrants conducted in Poland, and information obtained from NGOs, the Office for Foreigners in Poland, and other sources. Nevertheless, the collected ethnographic material is still in the preliminary stage of developing a research project.

Everton, S.F., 2015, Networks and Religion. Ties that Bind, Loose, Build Up, and Tear Down, Journal of Social Structure, 16 (10), pp. 1–34.

Abstract:

Migration from Central Asia is partially redirecting from Russia to other destinations. This study considers the case of the migration of truck drivers from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, who are spearheading a new migration flow to the countries of the European Union. As this destination becomes more popular, new institutions start to develop alongside technologies, social networks, intermediaries, and NGOs, facilitating and enabling mobility. They are all elements of a new infrastructure of migration, that underpin the growing mobility flow from Central Asia to the European Union. While the existence of infrastructures makes migration possible, less attention has been devoted to the role of infrastructures in shaping migrants’ aspirations. In examining the case of Central Asian truck drivers, this study looks at how their previous migration experiences in Russia shape expectations about migrating to the European Union, and how migration aspirations to the EU influence workers to choose this route over the traditional Russian destination. This study is based on 20 in-depth interviews with drivers collected on multiple sites during 2023. The study intends to contribute to the growing literature about migration infrastructures and the new mobility flows from Central Asia.

Abstract:

This paper aims at presenting and characterizing the Central Asian migrant community living in two municipalities of the Atlantic south coast of Portugal, Portimão and Lagoa. The community currently numbers almost 150 people, mainly Uzbekistanis with a few Kazakhstanis; the pioneers arrived more than twenty years ago, but there are several newcomers and also a return migration (mainly of families with children); the circonstances and motivations of these arrivals and departures are a main focus of this research.

Based on extended fieldwork and on some twenty in-depth interviews conducted between 2018 and 2023 - before and after the Covid-19 pandemic -, the paper also aims at understanding two rather different issues raised by the fieldwork: the first one has to do with a religious choice - why Central Asians avoid the nearest mosque, in Portimão, and prefer to attend another mosque some 15 km. away; the second one, with social and ethnic reasons and implications: why and how the global russian-speaking community of the first wave of migrants, twenty years ago, uniting Uzbekistanis, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Russians,... under the common umbrella of «Eastern Immigrants», is now divided into different profiles and identities.

Abstract:

My research is devoted to the mobilities of Central Asian female migrants in Germany through public transport. Based on primary and secondary data, I tried to understand how women adapted and integrated into Germany. To what extent is public transit involved in the integration process, taking its material, physical, and socio-cultural role and position? According to data analysis, 99% of female migrants use public transport daily, having at least two stops during a journey.

In contrast to public transit in the home country, the gender-friendly designed public transport in Germany becomes an essential source in realizing the goals and plans of central Asian female migrants. Whether they work or study, live a year or twenty years, the efficiency of public transit makes them more mobile, well-experienced, and self-confident. Experiencing mobility with no or fewer constraints or discomforts is also about having the right to the city and space. They can easily navigate the city, traveling to work, shopping, or leisure activities. “The ability to move freely is an essential human right and an enabler of individuals’ participation in social and economic life, ” says recent research conducted in South American cities (Why does She Move, 2020). My informants were divided into three categories. The first group was young women who studied and worked in Germany. Another group is women who work as professional scholars, lawyers, musicians, businesswomen, and NGOs. The third category is women having children. Besides, I interviewed two non-central Asians who had come from the USA to Germany as educational and professional migrants. I also interviewed three experts on mobility and public transport, who significantly understood transport policy and its modernization since the 2000s. Besides, 31 participants filled out an online survey designed on Google Drive.

The theoretical part is based on “Motility” and “Mobility capital" by Vincent Kaufmann (2004). In Kaufman’s words, ‘motility’ is the potential to move people, goods, and information in the spatial-geographical and social contexts. Consequently, it is attached to the development of the mobility capital. Such patterns characterize motility as access, competence, and appropriation. In the case of female migrants in Germany, public transport is thus a sufficient opportunity to efficiently realize their social mobility toward integration into the host country.