Analysis of approaches to migrant integration implemented in the national policy of the Russian Federation[Анализ Реализуемых В Национальной Политике Российской Федерации Подходов К Интеграции Мигрантов]

The aim of this research was to identify the perceptions of migration and the integration of migrants as implemented in the national policy of the Russian Federation. The research focused on the approaches to migrant integration within the framework of Russia's national policy. Both desk-based and field research methods were employed. The field research was conducted in two regions of Russia – St. Petersburg and Bashkortostan. A total of 172 interviews of various types were collected, and 165 hours of observation were conducted. According to the research findings, migrants, migration, and the integration of migrants are indeed represented within Russian national policy, but this representation holds a marginal character. Migrants are constructed by national policy as incompetent outsiders who have the opportunity to become part of Russian society, solely through the elimination of this incompetence by mastering specific instruments for existence in Russian society, particularly immigration legislation. They are also integrated into the Russian cultural sphere. This latter process is sometimes imagined in an assimilationist way, where the importance of migrants adopting Russian culture is emphasized, and at times, in a multiculturalist way, where Russia is constructed as a "nation of nations," a country in which various ethnic groups reside, and migrants are included in Russian diversity as "Tajiks," "Azerbaijanis," "Germans." However, a symbolic series of events often associates these ethnic groups with the migrants' countries of origin, thereby placing migrants in a transnational and hence marginal position. This marginality serves as a recurring theme in the representation of migrants in Russia's national policy overall. Based on the analysis of the Russian case on the international stage, general and specific recommendations were made. The general recommendation is to reconsider the image of the nation as a whole and at the level of national policy activities to accord a greater role to migration and migrants. Specific recommendations resulting from the research are aimed at altering the symbolic sequences of existing national policy activities. Specifically, it is proposed to (1) incorporate a greater intercultural element into the symbolic series of events, (2) update the cultural repertoire of activities, and (3) develop and implement a public ritual for foreigners acquiring Russian citizenship.