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Russians exodus causing tensions in southern Russia
By Yoshihiro Okawa
Sekai Nippo correspondent
Published October 17, 2005
Ethnic Russians are moving away from Stavropol and Krasnodar in the southern part of the country to its European area, including Moscow. This exodus comes as the local ethnic residents in Chechen and Dagestan suffering from conflict and terrorism move into the neighboring regions of Stavropol and Astrakhan, crowding out native Russians.
The ongoing Chechen conflict and the destabilization of the Dagestan region are intensifying new ethnic frictions in the surrounding areas. Eleven years after war first broke out in Chechen, there is no end in sight to the conflict, and it is eroding Russia's social fabric.
Recently, Russian television and newspapers often allude to "the expansion of Caucasus ethnic groups in southern Russia." This refers to a phenomenon where residents in conflict-ridden Chechen and Dagestan emigrate into the surrounding areas, causing security in these areas to deteriorate. This has lead to a Russian exodus to Russia's European part.
In the eastern areas of the country, Russians have been emigrating out of Siberia and the Far East. They are being replaced by Chinese who are immigrating into the area.
Russian media tend to exaggerate Russian exodus. For example, Astrakhan saw the decrease of only 6% in Russian local population in the past 15 years. On the other hand, more than 300,000 non-Russians such as Chechens immigrated into Stavropol with total population of 2.64 million in the past decade. If Russian influx continues with current pace, Russian exodus is expected to accelerate.
The Russian government can control Chinese immigration into Siberia and the Far East regions through restrictive immigration controls. However, Chechens and Dagestans are Russian citizens whose domestic movement is guaranteed by the constitution. The emigration of local ethnic groups is expected to continue as long as conflicts and terrorism in Chechen and Dagestan continue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently characterized the situation of Russia's Southern Federal District as "very serious," during the conference of republic presidents and provincial governors of the district. Reconstruction of destroyed social infrastructure and mitigation of conflicts are important to stop the influx of Chechens and other local ethnics, he said.
In reality, funds from the Russian federal government to Chechen and other north Caucuses republics have been disappearing due to corruption within the governments of regional republics. Statistics of such corruptions and irregularities are rarely made public. In a recent conference, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov admitted that thousands of Chechen residents forged documents to fraudulently receive housing revitalization funds.
The Russian presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District Dmitry Kozak stated his intention to facilitate revitalization of Chechen by having the federal government take over management authority of revitalization fund from the governments of local republics. President Alkhanov is skeptical about this, because residents of Chechen are dependent on the illegal flow of revitalization fund for their daily lives.
"If the federal government applies a strict control over the illegal flow of fund, that may accelerate emigration of residents out of Chechen further," President Alkhanov said. The heads of neighboring areas such as Stavropol have voiced similar opinions.
The governor of the Krasnodar region, Alexander Tkachov, recently expressed a fierce anger at the influx of people from Chechen and other areas, saying, "They are not bringing benefits to the region but only murder and rape."
"We have to mobilize all security agencies to push back the uninvited guests," he said.
Antipathy toward immigrants is on the rise among Russians in those areas and regions. In the region of Astrakhan, armed Russians and Chechen immigrants clashed recently and one person was killed. Buildings in a Chechen community were set on fire.
In another incident in the region, a Russian man told a Chechen immigrant boy, "This is a present to your father," and handed him a paper bag that contained a grenade. It exploded and killed the boy.
Copyright © 2005 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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