Migration Patterns and Russia's Influence

Introduction

Background

Russia or the Russian Federation is a transcontinental country located in North Asia and Eastern Europe. According to official data from the World Bank, with an area of approximately 17,125,200 square kilometres, Russia population stood at 144.5 million in the year 2017 (World Bank, 2019). Ethnic wise, Russia is a multi-national state, composed of over 186 ethnic groups. Russian government can be termed as a federal semi-presidential republic whereby, the prime minister share governing responsibilities as head of government and the state while the president is the chief executive (Ejil.org. 2019). It is, however, beyond argument that, the president in Russia holds more power than the premier. Additionally, like most other government, the bodies mandated by running the country include the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. From the age of the soviet era to modern times, Russia is known for its unique culture, including colourful folk costumes, appreciation of Vodka, among others. While it is evident that, much of Russia’s traditions have been transferred from one generation to another, a significant part of it has also been borrowed from other cultures or countries. This is because, for many decades, there have been a notable movement to and from Russia for multiple reasons, which will be explained in this paper. Zayonchkovskaya (2018) defined migration, as the movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling permanently or temporarily in their new location. In most cases, migration involves the long-distance movement of people from one region or country to another.

Migration of human being can be traced to 1.75 million years ago (Lucassen, Lucassen, and Manning, 2010). In pre-modern history, the movement of early human beings was due to the factors, such as climatic changes, limited supply of food in the regions that they originally inhabited and changes in the landscape (Marino, 2012). Additionally, there is evidence, suggesting that, early human beings also changed their locality because of population pressure as well as diseases and natural calamities that were prone to some areas than others. Bharadwaj (2012) noted that, in the 11th and 13th century, migration patterns around the world could have been influenced by factors such as Islamisation as well as Arabization. Over the years, things have whoever changed, especially the causative agents of migration. For example, while migration can still be attributed to climatic factors and food insecurity, in first world countries, migration has become even more sophisticated. People are now moving from their original homes to new ones due to economic factors, such as lack of job opportunities in their home countries, ethno political conflicts, and limited sexual freedom in their home countries as well as social issues, such as family obligations among others (Castles, 2002; Riazantsev, 2013). As a result, when it comes to seek possible solutions, the policymakers must therefore critically evaluate the causes and come up with a dynamic solution.

This paper highlights key reasons for the migration of Russian citizens into western countries. Specifically, the paper will review the latest peer-reviewed journals, news from credible online-media houses, government statistics, and information from reputable non-governmental organizations handling refugees. While, it is true that, many factors could contribute to the migration of people from one country or region to the other, and the research focuses on the contributions of economic and political factors, social issues and environmental factors. The research will also expound on possible solutions to migration from Russia by its citizens, such as policy improvement, political stability, and embracing of sexual diversity and ideologies.

History of migration patterns in Russia/Latest statistics on migration to and from Russia

Migration in the Soviet Era

The Soviet Union, in full Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Republik or Sovetsky Soyuz consisted of 15 socialist republics namely Turkmenistan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Aemenia, Bolorussia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgiziya, Moldavia, Latvia, Belorussia, and Lithuania. During the period of its existence since the Russian Revolution of 1917, the USSR was, by areas, the largest country in the world with its capital in Moscow. It was diverse with more than 100 nationalities living within its borders. One of the major reasons for the formation of the Soviet Union was to strengthen its communist ideologies within the member countries. The collapse of the Soviet Union, however, started in the second half of the 1980s with a series of national unrests before it eventually came to an end in the 26 December 1991.

According to Schmidt and Sagynbekova (2008), even in the pre soviet era, migration to and from Russia was not always an easy task. Yudina (2005) goes ahead and note in their article that, under the regulations of the Russian tsars, the individual choice for mobility, especially for peasants, was limited. It could only be allowed for commercial and professional reasons. However, those who were highly ranked, such as the nobles and higher military personnel had at times administered permanent passport and as a result, enjoyed the freedom of movement. In the case of those of lower ranks, to migrate from Russia to neighbouring countries was more difficult because they were constrained in their mobility. Sagynbekova (2008) noted that, in the subsequent years, especially in the mid-19th century, the increased demand for blue-collar manpower in other regions of the world, resulted in the government adopting strict measures to control population mobility, and the article, for instance, noted that, the government made the issuance of passport an expensive thing, especially for the improvised persons in the society. In the Soviet era, the borders of the Soviet republic did not act as barriers to the migration of people. Laruelle (2010), in his article, noted that, during the Soviet Era, its migration policy mainly focused on internal migration for the sole reason of redistributing labour force. This, in turn, resulted in the movement of people within the Soviet republic in an attempt to resettle sparsely populated regions which had considerable amounts of natural resources. Tartakovsky (2010), in their article, noted that, during the Soviet era, migration occurred in two stages; the first stage lasted from the beginning of the 1950s to the mid-1970s. Here Russia lost close to 3 million people to other soviet republics. Specifically, a large portion of the immigrants migrated to Ukraine and Belarus, to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Some of the catalysts of this migration included the building of newly industrialised economies in Asia, post-war reconstruction and development as well as the development of fallow land in countries such as Kazakhstan. The second phase or stage of the migration occurred between 1975 and 1991, and this resulted in an increase of Russian population by 2.5 million people (Tartakovsky 2010). This phase of migration was mainly facilitated by the desire for rich-resources and opportunities in some areas outside Russia. Additionally, it was also during this period that, Russia recorded a significant growth rate in their population, because the students in the socialist states from developing countries attended Russian universities and there was also the introduction of the iron curtains.

Migration in the post-Soviet Era/ Modern migration in Russia

The post-Soviet era covers period and events after the collapse of the Soviet Union that is the beginning of 1992 to the current age. This period is unique in its unique way, in that, it has been characterised by advances in technology, medicine, politics, and economics, among others. Additionally, advancements in the transport system, as well as globalisation, have also elicited tremendous impacts on migration patterns of people around the world. As a result, it is to state that, these factors could have been facilitated easy migration process. Emigration ought to be a major concern to the governing entities because unlike in the previous decades, the country is now mainly dependent on immigration to support its labour demand, since the number of deaths per year has passed the number of newborns (Shkolnikov et al. 2013). The emigration patterns in the Post-Soviet era Russia dates back to 1987 with Perestroika and the mass Jewish emigration. Ro’I (2016) noted in their article that, according to the 1989 Soviet census, at the start of this mass Jewish emigration, there were close approximately 570,000 core Jews residing in the Russian Federation. However, by the beginning of 2003, a significant percentage of these Jews had emigrated, and their numbers decreased to around 252,000, representing a 56% decrease in population. In order to have a better understanding on the general emigration trend of Russian, a possible source is the 2002 Census, which is taken to be a true reflection of the situation in the ground indicate that since 1989, a total of 5 million persons have moved out of Russia (Wade, 2017). Among them 76% people have migrated to the former Soviet Union (FSU). Among the non-FSU countries, close to 59% have migrated to Germany, 24% to Israel and 11$ to the USA (Ro'l, 2016). From an individual’s perspective, it seems the number of emigrants, especially those provided by the Russian registration system that is underestimated because of other countries, such as the United States record higher immigrant’s numbers from Russia. This could only mean that, the net immigration data estimates provided by the Russian borders are biased.

The table below shows the trend in Jews Migration from Russia to Israel and the West between 1997 and 2002 (In thousands). Image source: Tolts, M. (2008). Mass Aliyah and Jewish emigration from Russia: East European Jewish Affairs.

According to internationally reputable news sources such as the New York Times and the United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs, emigration from Russia has continuously been on the rise since the year 2011 following the election of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. It is estimated that, in the year 2015 alone, close to 350, 000 people left Russia. In a country of 144 million, these figures may look small, and however, considering that, the number of deaths per year is higher than the number of birth, this could be a worrying trend if effective steps are not adopted to reserve the trends. For example, it could mean that by the year 2050, the population of Russia would have shrunk to 115 million, and a significant decline in the working-age population (UNICEF, Russian Federation). It also means that there will be huge interregional imbalances of workers. From an individual’s perspective, the worst part about the emigration trends in Russia is that, it is some of the brightest minds who are migrating to western countries. For example, scientists, programmers, chemists, and physicists are particularly in high demand in Western countries, such as the United States and Canada. If left unchecked, it is clear that, Russia’s ability to stay competitive on a global scale like telecommunication, healthcare, and military will decline.

As of mid-2015, the United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs released a report detailing the number of Russians in different countries as follows:

Official records from the United States official website of the Department of Homeland security states that the number of persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status by Broad Class of Admission and County of Birth for the fiscal year 2016 indicated that, the number of individuals migrating to the United States is still high considering that most of them are likely never coming back to Russia.

Apart from the Jewish emigrant, Korobkov and Zaionchkovskaia (2012) also noted in their article that, a significant number of Russians have also moved to the western countries in the recent decade because of better terms of work, economic and political issues among others. Other concerns that have fuelled migration in the recent years include political Instabilities and Uncertainty/ ethno political conflicts in former Soviet republics as well to people moving out to seek political asylum. It is also important to note that, Russia has a strict stance on sexuality and as a result, unlike their western counterparts, which have embraced the idea of sexual freedom, Russia has been adamant to accept contemporary sexual issues such as homosexuality, transgender and gays. Lastly, a significant fraction of the modern population is also migrating from Russia due to social issues such as seeking better education and family obligation.

Key reasons for the migration of Russian Citizens into Western Countries

Economic factor/ job opportunities

Economic factors refer to labour standards of a country, its specific unemployment situation, and the overall health of its economy. According to Castles et al. (2013), if the economic condition of a country is not favourable and appears to be at risk of declining, it is likely that a greater number of individuals living in the country will migrate to one with a better economy. Economic migrants are therefore drawn towards international migration because of better prospects such as better employment opportunities or terms of work, higher wages in their newly identified countries as well as work stability. One of the common trends observed is that, in most of the cases, the emigrants tend to come from middle-income countries with a high population of well-educated individuals. This form of migration is commonly referred to as south-north migration and is the main type of economic migration. In this form of south-north migration, it is usually expected that, once the emigrant has secured a job opportunity, they should send remittances back to their country of origin (Lafleur and Stanek, 2017). One of the key reasons for the migration of Russian citizens into western countries has always been economic factors. Individuals, especially skilled personnel, including those that are actively employed, prefer to work in western countries because they provide better terms of work and remunerations. For example, the United States offer better working conditions, especially remunerations. A physicist, Chemist or Engineer working in the United States would get better remuneration on top of adequate time and freedom to conduct their research. According to some of the latest trajectories released by Pew Research, in terms of the total labour force (people of ages 15 years and above who meet the international labour organisation definition of the economically active population), Russia stands at 77.6 million while the United States stands at 158.6 million. Amongst this population, the hourly minimum wage at international USD in Russia is indicated as $0.76 while in the United States, it stands at $7.25. Despite the unemployment rate being higher at 9.7% than the Russia’s 7.6% is it evident that for skilled persons, especially with expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), their demand is quite high and if granted an opportunity to work in the United States or any other western countries, they would gladly migrate without hesitation.

The tables below show disparities in salaries among the individuals working in Russia and the United States for similar or almost similar work descriptions.

According to Bernstein (2010), the good working condition in the United States, Canada, and some countries in Europe is attributed to multiple factors, especially her human resource practices. For example, in Russia, many of the small and mid-sized companies do not have a standard compensation system. In other words, there are no systematic, equitable pay scale and incentive structures flexible enough to withstand growth and change. As a result, some individuals end up being in the same job group which the same pay for an extended period and this may discourage employees. Additionally, unlike in western countries, in Russia, it seems the main goal of most employers is to provide full employment. Additionally, Russia companies pay bonuses and incentives to their employees irrespective of their performance, unlike in the United States, where individual efforts are appreciated and not collectivist culture (Carraher, 2011). It is therefore, likely that those who feel that they are less appreciated for work working hard if tempted to move to a country where their work will be more appreciated will move to the greener pastures. Still, on HR Practices disparities, it is important to note that, differences in motivational techniques between the two regions could be a contributing factor to the migration of personnel from Russia to the United States and European countries. It is documented that, in Russia, the basic technique of motivation is monetary benefits. However, in the UK AND USA, they complement monetary compensation with non-monetary methods such as job enrichment, organizational support, and training, cross-training and education. It is therefore evident that, if one wishes to develop their professional background, the best country to visit would, therefore, be western countries.

Political Instabilities and Uncertainty/ ethnopolitical conflicts in former Soviet republics

According to data by the Organisation for International Migration, there are close to 192 million people, who live in areas outside their birth area. This is an equivalent of 3% of the whole global population. Apart from the economic factor already being discussed being a catalyst, there are multiple political factors, which can cause people to move from their home country to the other. Examples of these political factors include the presence of war, state persecution, and lack of political liberties (Aisen and Veiga, 2013). For the case of Russia, its conventional wisdom is that, it is too nuclear and big to fail because of its engagement in war and disputes within and around the world. However, it is also important to note that, the country is also too big to secure. One of the ongoing conflicts that have contributed to the migration of Russian citizens to western countries is the Russia-Ukraine border conflict (Scott, 2012). Official records indicate that, Russia and Ukraine share close to 2295 kilometres of the border. In the year 2014, Ukraine had made public its plan to build a walled defensive system along its border with Russia. If built, the wall would cost approximately $510 million and would take close to four years to construct (Veebel and Markus 2016). Ukraine has also made public and introduced the biometric controls for Russians entering the country. It is also within public limelight that in 2018, Ukraine government banned all Russian men from entering the country with the exceptions of humanitarian purpose. For countries that have shared the history and intertwined culture, it is evident that, this hard political stance has had diverse impacts, including causing worry to citizens who inhabit areas close to the regions. Vladimir’s rule from 1999 improved the living standards and also stabilised the economy of the country. Similarly, Putin’s rule stabilised political arrays. Consequently, the emigration crawled as compared to the recent years and in return, saw the increased number of an immigrant from other countries such as Syria, Ukraine, among others to Russia. By the year 2000, statistics on emigration indicated a drop in the number from 146, 000 in 2000, to 32, 000 emigrants by 2009 (Moses, 2010). However, from 2012, the number of emigrant to the western countries such as Britain and the United States has increased tremendously. The number raised from 36,774 recorded in 2011 to 350, 000 in 2015. Therefore, analysis on this second wave of emigration started from 2011 after the announcement by Putin for running for a third term in office. One of the reasons for the sharp increase in emigration could have been the association of Putin administration with lack of political liberties, especially by his critics. Those who are against Putin’s ideologies of governance have, in most cases, been described as sympathisers of the west with no love for the country. As a way of protecting themselves, such individuals have often decided to seek political asylum in the western countries which are considered more “liberal”. Consequently, looking at the trends in Russia’s party system, there is also a lot of red signs. For example, according to (Wade, 2017), Russia’s party system in the 1990s depicted some unique attributes when compared to the post-communist party systems. In Russia, political parties have become the only legitimate actors in the parliamentary and national electoral arena just as is the case with the democrats and republicans in the United States. Non-party politicians no longer compete with those with party nomination tickets. The resulting impact of this has been that, the power of opposition has greatly diminished and the government in charge is left to carry out its operations with minimal supervision. Official data from the government registrar of parties indicate that, the main political outfits in Russia include the United Party of Russia with close to 340 representatives, followed by the communist part, liberal Democratic Party and A Just Russia with 42, 40 and 23 representatives accordingly (Weston Phippen, 2016). The above metrics indicate that, the United Russia party, which sponsored the current president of the country, enjoys mass support. Considering the size of the country and total population, it is evident that, a one majority party hinders a significant fraction of the population from contributing and taking a political seat. Individuals who try and manage to pose a threat to the United Russia party have to overcome the power of state-sponsored campaign machinery. In some cases, they face extremities and to some extent, hostilities. Bosma, Lucassen, and Oostindie, (2012) reported in their article that, in more than one occasion, such persons have resorted to feeling the country to seek political asylum or as international activists. Also, the parliamentary elections have become fraudulent, thus discouraging people from actively engaging in politics are resorting to other democracies where there is political liberties safety. Mass protests witnessed frequently in the country due to multiple reasons have also led to harsh restrictions and policies in the country (Spring, 2012). Over the years, it is evident that, with the increasing influence of President Putin and harsh government stance, a considerable number of people, especially those holding divergent political ideologies have opted to migrate to western countries such as Germany, Britain and the United Kingdom.

Sexual identity

It is a known fact that Lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia face a lot of legal and social challenges as compared to their non-LGBT counterparts. As a result, Russia is not the best place to live in for individuals falling under the category of LGBT. This is despite the fact that same-sexual activity between consenting adults was decriminalised back in 1993. Homosexuality and related practices are generally disapproved of by the majority of the Russians (Buyantueva, 2018). Most people consider it as a disease to the extent that, households headed by same-sex couples at times are ineligible for legal protection that is accorded to opposite-sex couples. History of discrimination of homosexuality in Russia dates decade centuries back and is influenced by multiple factors, including religion, public image, and many other factors. The orthodox religion, which is the main Christian denomination, is hostile towards female and male homosexuality, and as a result, individuals who conform to this religious outfit, are likely to adopt a similar stance on their LGBT counterparts. Clark, (2014) also noted that, Mosaic Law, Neo-Platonism, and classical Athenian culture all regarded anal intercourse as an insult to masculinity, individuals who practice this form of sexual practices are therefore likely to be treated as an outcast and face a lot of hostilities at work or when interacting with other people in the society. The government of Russia took note of homosexuality cases as early as 1716 and started to formulate policies, which can regulate the practice. Nicholas I, for instance, is known for extending criminalisation of homosexual activity through the legal code of 1832. Since then, professional respect for homosexuality as a way of life was generally low, and the same trend has existed for more than a century now. Since Russian society’s view on sexuality has become part of its culture, the modern population of LGBT are the ones who have continued to suffer the consequences. The current situation in Russia is that while homosexuality was officially removed from the country’s list of mental conditions, organs of authority in the country have still refused to register LGBT organisation. Additionally, homosexual couples are prohibited from adopting children together. Sexual discrimination, especially that which target gay is responsible for numerous cases or migration. According to Pew research 2013 for instance, in a survey carried out in the year 2013, it was noted that more than 70% of Russians felt that, homosexuality should not be accepted in their society as compared to 16% who found nothing wrong with homosexuality (Buyantueva, 2018). Earlier in the year 2005, a poll had suggested that, 44% of Russians if given a chance would favour making homosexual act a criminal to ascertain that the practice is not embraced. A study conducted by Stella and Nartova, (2015) on the other hand indicated that, 16% of the population were in agreement that, homosexuals should be secluded from the rest of the society. The climax of the anti-gay campaign was initiated by President Vladimir Putin, and a motorcycle group called the Night wolves in what they termed “death to faggots.” The group re-stated that homosexuality is a western ideology that is not welcomed in Russia. The message that this passes to the gay society is that they are not welcomed in Russia. The ever-present campaigns against homosexual deter Russians from embracing their sexuality and as a result, they're the only alternative becomes a seeking refuge in western countries such as Germany, Britain and the United States where there are less backlash and discrimination from the members of the society.

Environmental, personal and topographical factors

The Chernobyl incident

A considerable number of people could have migrated from Russia to Western countries because of concerns due to the toxic effects of the Chernobyl. In a study done by Danzer 2016, dubbed long term consequences of Chernobyl; Evidence on subjective wellbeing, mental health, welfare depicts that the toxic effects of Chernobyl have been a major cause of emigration among the Russians. The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear catastrophe that occurred on the 26th April in the year 1986 at the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl Nuclear power plant that was located near Pripyat city in the north of Ukraine SSR (Danzer 2016). The study estimated the causal effect of the 1986 Chernobyl accident after over 20 years. It found out that about 4% of the Russian population had a high level of radiation that has led to psychological effects such as high depression rates which consequently made the affected individuals flee to Western countries for fear of the long term detrimental effects the radiation could have on their and their future generations. In this case, the most affected by this wave of emigration were those closest to Ukraine border. Quastel et al. 1997; Yankovska and Hannam (2014) also noted in their article that, in 1986, after the Chernobyl disaster, many Russians migrated to different countries around the globe, especially to Israel. This was necessitated by the fear of death after high levels of radiation exposure and the fear of people having children with congenital anomalies. An analysis on the Incidence and mortality of solid cancer among emergency workers of the Chernobyl accident specifically an assessment of radiation risks for the follow-up period of 1992–2009 depicted that many Russians migrated to Western countries between the years 1992 -2009 because of the rising tolls of solid cancers. Even up to date, with the rise of global cancer incidences, significant factions of Russians and Ukrainians are unwilling to return to their original homes because of the fear Quastel et al. ( 1997; Kashcheev et al., 2015). Additionally, many Russians, as a result, resorted to seeking countries which were relatively claimed to be safer for their stay and their children.

Migration for personal reasons

Just as is the case with any other countries, there are hundreds of people willing to migrate from Russia to the west for personal reasons. A research Bronzino (2015), on the specifics of migration of Russians to Europe, shows that hundreds of Russian people were migrating to Europe for personal reasons. This study stipulates that, example reasons why some Russians go to Western are purely personal and not due to circumstances in their native country. One of the personal reasons depicted was the quest for further studies. Many young Russians prefer having their post-graduate studies in Western countries. This was attributed to better renowned public Universities in Western countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is generally argued that Western countries assign a significant amount of their budget to other areas of research apart besides researchers being allowed to freely selected their areas of investigation with minimal or no government interference unlike in Russia (Etzkowitz et al. 2000). The heartbreaking part is that, even after completing their studies, some fail to return to their native country following better job opportunities that they get after studies. Secondly, some Russians leave the country for medical reasons. Tsui et al. (2007) reiterate that challenges facing cancer management in Russia have been a reason for the emigration of most Russians to Western countries. At the moment, the global cancer observatory indicates that Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Russia, with cases of breast and colorectal cancers being the most common. This has been attributed to the aforementioned Chernobyl radiation exposure as well as unhealthy eating practices accompanied by eating of contaminated food items. The Russian government has been for a long time not able to have effective ways of dealing with the problems leading to high mortality attributed to cancer, hence the urge of migrating to western countries to pursue better treatment options. In men, lung cancer accounts for the greatest number of deaths with recent data showing 39.7 men and 53 women per 100,000 population followed by prostate cancer. Considering this statistics, it could have been expected that, Russia would be having some of the best cancer treatment facilities, however, a small online search reveals that, some of the best ranked cancer hospitals are Western countries such John Hopkins Hospital and Stanford Health Centre hence the need to seek attention from the best in the world .Seeking for medical has been thus one of the personal reasons for emigration, (Bronzino 2015). This has been one of the reasons why a significant fraction of the Russian population prefer having medical treatment abroad in Western countries not because they have low mortality rates but because of being equipped with some of the best human resource and facility to battle cancer. Lastly, it is also important to note that a significant number of Russians also emigrate for pleasure. This could be in the form of vacation. The 5th International conference on contemporary marketing issues ICCMI June 2017 showed that, Russian tourist’s satisfaction vacation destination is Greece. The ambiance of Greece and other historic sites has been a pull for many Russians. Annually it is estimated that about 2% of the Russian population travel to Greece for vacation (Kamenidou et al., 2017). Since it is almost certain that some individuals never return to their motherland, this could result in a significant percentage of emigration.

Land productivity concerns as not every region are habitable.

Wright et al. (2014) explained that, in the year 2010, Russia’s heat wave greatly escalated and this was attributed to by the unprecedented atmospheric blocking event that had persisted from early July to mid-August. This led to many regions being uninhabited, leading to gross migration. South-western Russia experienced moisture deficits due to the heat wave. Most of the farmers who largely depend on cultivation had to migrate (Wright et al., 2014). This is one of the multiple instances where Russia’s environment became hostile to its inhabitants, forcing human migration. There is also a concern that some parts of the Russian regions are too cold to support human habitation. This has, in turn, forced many Russians to remain concentrated at the European part of the nation which covers only 23% of the entire territory or lives in Southern, Asian region. The vast territories in Northern Siberia remain almost unpopulated with only bears, tigers, and rich mineral resources buried deep in the permafrost. This has made many Russians migrate to western countries that can accommodate them and started their lives there as the country’s population continues to increase. These uninhabited places in Russia contribute to the list of the popularly uninhabited places in the world known as the “nonecumene”. Russia’s Wild Far East, for instance, has a 2.4 million square miles almost triple the size of Alaska, Washington State, and Oregon combined but has merely 6.3 million people (The Economist 2012)

Social issues, seeking for education/family obligation

According to a recent report titled “the UN’s World Happiness report, it was noted that Americans are significantly happier than Russians. On the other hand, considering the indicators such as income, life expectancy, freedom to make decisions and social support, the US ranked 18th of 156 countries, while Russia was 59th. All these matrices suggest that, the quality of in the United States and European countries such as Germany and Britain is generally better than in Russia. This is likely to be a major contributor to the recent emigration trends in Russia. The quest for a better quality of life for an individual’s family has necessitated the need for migration. The life expectancy in Russia is lower compared to life expectancy in Western countries in the United States of America. The USA is considered a happier nation as compared to Russia and thus for Russians who would wish their families had a happier life and a longer healthier stays have migrated to Western countries. The life expectancy in 2017 in for Russian men and women was 57.7 and 71.2 years respectively, while in the United States of America, life expectancy for both male and female was 71.8 and 78.8 respectively( Mathers et al., 2015). This has been attributed to several factors causing reduced life expectancy in Russia which include: Overall the cardiovascular diseases such as (heart disease and stroke) as well as injuries accounted for 62%, while infectious diseases, such as pneumonia and influenza, accounted for 5.8%, chronic diseases of the liver and cirrhosis accounting for 2.8%, other alcohol-related disorders accounting for 9.4% (Stevens et al., 2015). In 2018, The Russian government launched a campaign urging more than 60000 of the citizens abroad to return to the country. The marketing campaign was geared to responding to the “Russophobic attitudes” towards the students studying and living abroad. This was according to the state-run RIA-Novosti news agency. The campaign was launched on April 16th, 2018 led by a government agency responsible for reshaping Russia’s mage and support of citizens living abroad. This consequently led to many governments, especially in Europe “having increasingly taken on harshly expressed anti-Russian character” the agency asserted. The USA government accused Russia of ordering the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence who was known as Sergei Skripal and his daughter on March 4, 2018, in Salisbury, Britain. This pointed to the dire consequences of people migrating from Russia, making the government cautious about the increasing need to go abroad to seek education (Davidson 2010). The above incident led to many Western nations expelling dozens of Russian diplomats, and Russia subsequently also expelled diplomats from Western countries. Kommersant newspaper stipulated that there were concerns that young Russians were at risk of experiencing difficulties in nations expressing “unfriendly feelings about Russia”. Moscow Times reported that, the campaign was designed to seek the return of Russian students studying in the United Kingdom back. The head of management and politics at Moscow MGIMO University said that, many young Russians seek education abroad for fear of lack of quality education in Russia.

Secondly, the modernisation of family is another reason for migration. The fundamentals of the family include; its way of life, the rhythm of formation, family roles, relationships, and morality. In the early 20th Century in Russia, relatively large families with dependent children were prevalent. However, since the mid-century, owing to the shift of majority of the workforce to the non-farming sector, there has been significant migration of most of the population into the cities and others opting to go other western countries. Many Russians now prefer urban-dwelling due to availability of more opportunities such as better schools, job opportunities, and better health facilities. Furthermore, production activity has shifted beyond family circles and ultimately into the wage labour of most people. Family, as well as production obligations, have shifted in time and space as their combination becomes more complex. This has necessitated needing for families to explore options by going to the urban areas as well as abroad. Inter marriages between different races have also led to the migration of families to western countries. About 5% of Russians currently have married from different countries in the world (Scherbov and Van Vianen 2004). This has enabled families to be able to migrate to different regions across the world, depending on the feasibility (Mathers et al., 2015). During the times of political instability, many Russians opted to go to the countries where their wives or husbands originated from especially western countries like Germany, Britain and the United States of America. Dual citizenship has enabled emigration easier. Countries such as the USA for instance, citizens may acquire dual citizenship by marriage. Cases of Russian populace opting to get dual citizenship have been rampant considering the political turmoil that arose with the Vladimir announcing he will vie for the third time. Many who had married foreign couples opted to go to their spouse countries and have since remained in those countries. This is a clear indication that, family matters and obligation has been the key in enabling migration (Stevens et al., 2015).

Table showing life expectancy in Russia and the US from the 1960 to 2015

Possible solutions for managing the problem

Adoption of policies that encourage economic stability

There are multiple strategies that can be adopted by the Russian government to reverse the trend. For example, the administration can consider increasing the hourly minimum average wage bill from the current USD 0.76 in a bid to match those in Western countries such as the United States of America (USA).USA Current average wage bill is about $ 7.25, which is way ahead of Russia. As it was already pointed, one of the major reasons why most Russians migrate to Western Countries is poor remuneration and lack of better working conditions. This, therefore, means once the country improves the working terms as well as minimum wage bill, then the rate of emigration is likely to reduce because people will begin to feel that their hard work is fairly appreciated. Additionally, this also means that there will be fewer brain drains, unlike what is seen with the current trends. Bright minds will be retained in the country, and they will eventually contribute to economic development via invention and innovation (Latova and Savinkov, 2012). The triple effect is more industries will come up in the country, creating more employment opportunities to the citizens. The country’s Gross Domestic Product will increase immensely, and this will enable the government to be in a position to employ more citizens with better working terms and remuneration. According to Vinokurov, 2017, Russia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as at 2017 was 1750 US Billion dollars, from an individual’s perspective, this will increase significantly with retention of innovative minds that currently are seeking better working conditions in Western Countries. In addition to the above the suggested approach, having a systematic equitable pay scale and incentive structures flexible enough to withstand growth and change is key. According to Bernstein (2010), the better working condition in the United States, Canada, and some countries in Europe is attributed to multiple factors, especially her human resource practices. For instance, in Russia, many of the small and mid-sized companies do not have a standard compensation system. Therefore adopting a policy of a systemic equitable pay scale will address the current problem in the country where workers stay in a particular job group with the same pay for quite a long time. This has been one of the discouraging problems that have contributed to mass emigration from Russia to western Counties. Systematic equitable pay scale and proper policies will deal with the issue of promotion of individuals who deserve promotion in an amicable way. Workers will have the motivation to stay in having confidence in a standard compensation system. Consequently, the adoption of policies that not only appreciate collective effort but also appreciates the individual effort is very vital. These policies will encourage individuals to hard work, and this will ultimately trickle down to collective hard work among citizens. According to Carrier (2011), one of the problems that lead to emigration is discouragement brought by failure to appreciate individual efforts. This has promoted a lazy culture where workers no longer feel motivated to work hard individually courtesy of the collectivist culture of appreciation. Hence many hard-working citizens prefer going to Western countries which look more appealing in terms of being appreciated. Still, on the same, the Russian government should also consider having various arrays of the motivation of workers which range from monetary to no- monetary techniques. Castles et al. (2013) stipulated that, Russia is only known for monetary ways of motivating workers Vis a Vis Western countries who employ even non-monetary techniques. Job enhancement such as promotions, offering further studies scholarships, cross-training, and vocational trips are some non-monetary techniques that can be adopted to prevent emigration. Workers prefer such working terms which have been a common reason for attraction to Western countries. This will consequently lead retention of brilliant minds who will contribute immensely to the economic development of the country, thus making Russia an economically stable nation free from emigration.

As an intervention to emigration crisis, the Russian government can also come up with laws that will regulate mass emigration of the citizens to Western countries. The citizens of Russia have the responsibility of making their country much better and stronger economically without having to run to Western countries. When all is said and done running away from the problem may not solve the problem. Thus it’s vital for the government to come up with regulations that will minimize emigration (Wilkinson, 2014). It’s also vital that, the government changes the perspective of citizens concerning emigration through promotion via the media. This will paint a better picture of a caring government and improve the loyalty of citizens towards their country. The economic stability of a nation depends on the number of available productive workforce in a country. Examples laws and policies that can discourage emigration include providing incentives and loans to the citizens to start up their businesses instead of solely relying on the government to create jobs (Baxandall 2017). This will empower young citizens with brilliant minds to come up with business ideas and become successful entrepreneurs in the future. Castles (2013) depicted that, one of the reasons for emigration is the search for employment opportunities. Affordable Loans and grants will enable these brilliant minds to start businesses that will eventually employ more people and help the government deal with unemployment issues. The current Unemployment rate in Russia is 7.6%, which is likely to reduce through embracing of self- employment (Medvedev, 2016). This is a move that will contribute to the economic stability of the country through the creation of more job opportunities through innovation and business. Changing the mindset of citizens from being job seekers to job – creators, the Russian government can use the media to change the mindset of its citizens from being job seekers (Molokova, 2017). This will help wash away the notion that citizens have to leave Russia in a bid to seek jobs in Westerns countries. One way of doing this is by empowering workers group. Public education via various media agencies is also critical as it will help alleviate emigration in Russia. This policy will reduce the rate of emigration since the citizens will know that, they are part and parcel of the government. Instead of crying to the government to give them better pay, they will instead look for ways of creating good pays jobs and use legal means to advocate for a pay rise for themselves and for fellow citizens, which ultimately will lead to an improved economy. The poverty levels will go down, and the living standards of the citizens will improve. Ultimately with the improved living standards, citizens will no longer have to emigrate for a search of employment opportunities

Ensuring political stability/ Government being open to criticism

Having peaceful coexistence with the neighbouring countries is the key to ensuring political stability and minimizing the rate of emigration from Russia. Veebel and Markus (2016) stipulated that, one of the causes of emigration in Russia was the political tension between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia share close to 2295 kilometres border which has been the cause of unrest between the two countries. This led to Ukraine initiating the building of a wall that would cost up to 10 million US dollars and biometric controls of its borders in 2018.Medvedev (2016) also explained that, the hard political stance in Russia is unsafe for peaceful coexistence between countries and would lead to the emigration of Russian citizens to western countries that they deem more peaceful. This calls for peaceful coexistence among nations, whenever there are disputes concerning boundaries Russia needs to have amicable ways to solve, such as dialogue among states. The dialogue should have goodwill from each party with no hardliners. This initiative will ease the tension between conflicting nations and there will be no need to emigrate for fear of political unrest. Secondly, political leaders in Russia, such as President Putin and other politicians should not cling to power. In the years 2011 to 2015, there was mass emigration of Russians to Britain and United States of America (USA) following an unexpected announcement by Putin that he was going to run for the third time in office. Such unrest was caused by a leader who has been in power and still wanted to maintain the status quo. From an individual perspective, Russia needs to have an effective system and laws that will ensure that leaders leave their office whenever their term comes to an end. Crowley (2016) stipulated that, the leaders should be held accountable for any political unrest that occurs because of the selfish interest of clinging to power. The leaders who make such laws should be capable to obey such laws so that even the citizens have confidence in the system. It is also evident that just like other democracies in the world; Russia also needs a truly independent effective and efficient electoral system to be put in place. This will inspire confidence among the citizens such that even if the incumbent wishes to go for another term, they will not have to seek political asylum for suspected of the incumbent clinging to power. Russian parliamentary elections are also fraudulent, thus discouraging people from actively engaging in politics are resorting to other democracies where there is political liberties safety. The fact that those from minor parties do not stand a chance of winning against popular parties is not a good indication (Simons, 2016). Fraudulence handled to mass protests, and picketing frequently witnessed in the country (Monk, 2011). Also, it has led to harsh restrictions and policies in the country. Over the years, it is evident that with the increasing influence of President Putin and harsh government stance, a considerable number of people, especially those holding divergent political ideologies have opted to migrate to western countries such as Germany, Britain and the United Kingdom. As a result, having effective, efficient independent electoral reforms will go a long way in preventing emigration. Furthermore, the Russian government should be open to criticism. Putin’s critics for a long time have been viewed by the government as Western sympathizers. The harsh government stance has led to some of them fleeing to Western countries for fear of being killed. The government of Russia needs to be open to criticism and allow for freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is one key step of a democratic nation, and criticism will make the government better and confidence among citizens. These steps will help reduce the needs to seek political asylum in western countries, which many view as more democratic and having political liberty. According to Vinokorov (2017), political stability is the key in ensuring economic stability too. He compares countries such as the United States of America with good, admirable political stability with countries such as Yemen without political stability. The United States of America has reduced emigration rate since it has relatively stable political atmosphere Vis a Vis Yemen where citizens continue to leave the country due to political instability and explain that has also contributed to poor economic stability. Russia too needs better policies that will ensure political stability as well as economic stability, consequently leading to reduced emigration. Also, the government should change regulation and encourage non-party politicians to compete for nomination tickets (Akindinova et al. 2016). The move will allow for opportunities for any aspiring candidate to vie without belonging to big political parties. In turn, their loyalty will not be aligned with political parties’ interest but that of the general public. The will and power of opposition in the oversight role of the government will also improve. Western 2016 depicts currently individuals who oppose the United Russian Party have to face state machinery, and thus many have opted to flee away from the country.

Equality, sexual and social equality

From an individual’s perspective, it is high time the Russian government embraced sexual and social equality. For quite a long time, the Russian government has refused to embrace the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) communities in its set-up despite not criminalising such acts. Buyanteuva (2018) explained how Homosexuality and its related practices are not tolerated in Russia. This has led to many people who are inclined to LGBT group emigrating and seeking refuge in western countries such as Germany and Britain where such groups are recognized. At the moment, Russia, unlike such countries that recognize the LGBT group consider Homosexuality as abuse to masculinity and cannot be accepted morally by religion and Russian culture Soboleva, I.V. and (Bakhmetjev, 2015). Most Russians consider it a disease to the extent that households headed by same-sex couples at times are ineligible for legal protection that is accorded to opposite-sex couples. History has it that the discrimination of homosexuality in Russia dates back to decades or centuries back and is influenced by multiple factors, including religion, public image, and many other factors. For instance, orthodox religion which is the main Christian denomination is hostile towards female and male homosexuality, and as a result, individuals who conform to this religious outfit are likely to adopt a similar stance on their LGBT counterparts, (Pearce and Cooper 2016; Lenon, 2011.). This sexual discrimination has to stop so that the emigrants who belong to the LGBT group no longer find a reason to leave the country for fear of hostility. Secondly, there is a need for a change of cultural perception about same-sex marriage because it has been a chronic problem that has contributed to emigration. Clark (2014) depicts that Mosaic Law, Neo-Platonism, and Classical Athenian culture have no room in defining sexuality in modern Russia. Essig (2014) gives a thought on the spectre of homosexuality haunting Russia citing change of perception among the solutions to help solve the emigration. An example strategy that the government can use lesbians gay, bisexual, and transgender organization needs to be officially registered with the government as a step towards ensuring that their rights, just like other citizens are respected. Additionally, there is a need for mass education of the citizens concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights to remove the notion that being a homosexual is a disease. The Russian government should use the media to come up with a campaign that will ensure the LGBT rights are respected. Furthermore, the government ought to provide security and protection to the LGBT in the spirit of equally treating all her citizens. This is because, they are currently being treated as an outcast, and the open hostility prevents them from exercising their sexual freedom. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin is on record for championing anti-gay campaign and formed a motorcycle group called the Night wolves in what they termed “death to faggots (Buyanteuva 2018)”. The group re-stated that homosexuality is a western ideology that is not welcomed in Russia. This campaign passed a message to the gay society that they are not welcomed in Russia. The lack of security is one factor that made them seek refuge in countries like Germany, Britain, and the United States of America (Kondakov, 2013). From an individual’s perspective, the government needs to embrace social equality by allowing homosexuals to adopt children just like the rest of the population (Richardson and Monro 2012). With the current constitutional provision, some homosexuals may want to raise children, but because they are not allowed to do so in Russia, they opt for fleeing to countries where they can freely live and adopt children. Allowing them to adopt will hence prevent the need for emigration because they will have children to connect.

The country’s judicial system should allow the Lesbian, gay. Bisexuals and transgender have legal protection which currently they do not enjoy. Nicholas, for example, is famous for extending criminalization of homosexual activity through the legal code of 1832. Since then, professional respect for homosexuality as a way of life has generally been low, and the same trend has existed for more than a century now (Coelho, 2011). This has made them a lesser people as compared to their fellow countrymen making some of the homosexuals to flee Russia. Being accorded legal protection, just like other citizens, will minimise the need to go out of their country. In cases where people treat them hostile, they will be at liberty to go to court, thus minimising emigration due to sexual and sexual inequality.

Improving the Russian education standards

The Russian government should strive to improve the Russian education system to gain the trust of the young scholars who are migrating outside the country in a bid to seek better and competitive education, especially higher education like master’s and Ph.D. programs. Davidson (2010) explained the increasing migration of by Russian scholars to Western countries in search of education. This led to the launching of a campaign urging more than 60000 of the citizens abroad to return to the country. The campaign which was subsequently launched on April 16th, 2018 led by government agency which is responsible for reshaping Russia’s image and support of citizens living abroad. The Russian government should consider offering increased research freedom accompanied by a good stipend to lure those already conducting or planning to move out to carry out their research back to their country. They should be offered adequate support both financially and with the necessary equipment so that they can impart the knowledge gained on the native citizens (Soboleva et al. 2016). Furthermore, the Russian Ministry of Education should go for a benchmark in western countries to see on what they are doing differently which makes them attractive and thus consider introducing the same measures in their own country with the hope that the systems will become better (Kateva et al., 2014). Additionally, even though Russia’s education system is ranked above that of the United States and majority European countries, there is still more to learn from these countries, especially when it comes to teaching and research implementation for postgraduate studies. The government needs to liaise with western country institutions of higher learning to have exchange programs with the Russian University students as this will enable the students to learn different techniques from their western counterparts and thus improve their quality. These may involve academic competitions that may help the lecturers gauge the level of their students and thus may feel challenged to work better (Kateva et al., 2014). In a bid to improve the image of the Russian government Universities, the Russian Universities should use the local media stations and international media to promote their Universities. Other long term measures to improve the academic system are teaching young children in lower grades schools on importance research and innovation. As a result, young scholars will grow appreciating that Russia is the best, and thus, this will prevent the rampant migration to Western countries in search of better post-graduate research opportunities. Bolotin et al., (2015) in his article, stipulated that, it is also vital that the government shift the education system from that oriented to job seeking to job creation. Many scholars, as a result, will grow knowing they are supposed to help the government create jobs and not seeking a job from the government which has left many frustrated and thus resorting to Western country education with the hope of getting a better job opportunity and terms abroad. Education is an important tool in improving the future of a nation, and this calls for proper reforms. This may involve sacking the cartel in the education sector that may, for long dwindled the education system in Russia. The steps will help solve the problems of young scholars having to go abroad to seek education. Having a proper way of appreciating those who work hard is effective to make the system better. This will motivate them and thus will strive to make Russian education better academic wise (Bolotin et al., 2015).

End Repression and Extremism

Russia has been known for repression and extremism. Very vague definitions of “extremism” in the Russian law have in the past given authorities a wider latitude giving them leeway to interfere with peaceful religious activities and thus ended up persecuting believers. This has led to many believers migrating to western countries where there is freedom of worship. The government needs to come up with anti-extremisms laws that will ensure everyone stays peacefully without interfering with the right and freedom of fellow citizens (Dannreuther, 2010). The Russian Orthodox Church which functions the de facto state church has recommended to the government on ways of mitigating extremism. End to extremism will deal with the terrorist who threatens the existence of other citizens who have in the past migrated for fear of being killed (Shkurkin et al. 2016). Xenophobia and ethno political extremism will reduce making the country more peaceful for coexistence among citizens (Shekhovtsov, 2017). A peaceful nation will automatically be more ambient for investors and thus, economic stability, which further reduces the need for emigration.

Improving Russia’s healthcare system and quality of life of its citizen

One of the personal reasons for emigration was the search for better health care. Steven et al., 2015 found out that life expectancy in Russia is lower compared to life expectancy in Western countries in the United States of America. The additionally, the USA for is considered a happier nation as compared to Russia and thus for Russians who would wish their families had a happier life and a longer healthier stay, have migrated to Western countries. According to World Health Organization (WHO) 2017, the life expectancy for Russian men and women was 57.7 and 71.2 years respectively, while in the United States of America, life expectancy for both male and female was 71.8 and 78.8 respectively( Mathers et al, 2015). In view of the aforementioned information the Russian government should come up with policies that will enable the country to be better in terms of health service delivery. Mather et al. (2015) stipulated that cardiovascular diseases and cancers were some of the leading causes of mortality. Annual screening for cancers policy will enable the health care facilities to early diagnose the diseases. Early diagnosis will help manage the conditions better and thus better outcome. This will improve the overall mortality rate (Marten et al., 2014). Also, having a campaign that promotes healthy living is vital; this will act as a primary prevention measure. Consequently it will lead to many Russians living a healthy life free from diseases and a thus overall improvement in the life expectancy of the citizens. This move will minimize the need to move away from Russia in search of a better life. Currently, According to a recent report titled “the UN’s World Happiness report, it was noted that Americans are significantly happier than Russians. Additionally, considering the indicators such as income, life expectancy, freedom to make decisions and social support, the US ranked 18th of 156 countries, while Russia was 59th. Improvement in the health system of the country will prevent the perennial migration to Western countries and thus ultimately leads to a healthy nation who will contribute immensely to the economic stability of the Russian people, (Marten et al., 2014).The government should provide more hospitals that will help deal with cancer conditions. Cancer is one of the major causes of emigration of Russians and thus it is important that the country sets up a centre of excellence that will compete with hospitals that are known worldwide for managing cancer such as John Hopkins Hospital in the United stated the States of America. According to research done by Kaya et al., (2010); Maleshin (2016) on the Global ranking of hospitals, the best hospital in Russia was number two hundred and fifty globally. Russian Children Hospital was the best followed by Bakoulev Center for Cardiovascular Surgery Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Bakoulev Center for Cardiovascular Surgery Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, On Clinic International Medical Center at positions 262, 478 and 484 respectively. This explains the reason for the migration of the Russians to western countries such the USA and Britain, which have the best hospitals. Improvement in the health facilities, as well as patient care, will immensely reduce the need to travel abroad to seek medical attention (Kaya et al., 2014).

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many key reasons for the migration of the Russian population to Western countries. The reasons include; First, economic factors, Individuals, especially skilled personnel, including those that are actively employed preferred to work in western countries because they provide better terms of work and remunerations. For instance, the United States of America offer better working conditions, especially remunerations. Some of the latest trajectories released by Pew Research, in terms of the total labour force (people of ages 15 years and above who meet the international labour organisation definition of the economically active population), Russia stands at 77.6 million while the United States stands at 158.6 million. Amongst this population, the hourly minimum wage at international USD in Russia is indicated as $0.76 while in the United States, it stands at $7.25.The government of Russia can mitigate this by creating more employment opportunities for citizens. Also, the government needs to use the mindset of the citizens using the media from being job seekers to job creators. Provision of incentives and loans can also be provided to the youths, middle and low-income enterprises to help them come up with businesses and thus promoting entrepreneurship. This will create more job opportunities, which will eventually lead to an improved economy. Secondly, political instability is also a cause for emigration to a Western country. In 2013 the announcement by President Vladimir Putin that he will be running for the third time brought a lot of unrest that made many Russians flee for fear of war breaking up. The problem of political instability can be sorted by having well-structured electoral laws that will ensure that individuals only remain in power for a given duration of time after which they give way to others aspirants to take over. In addition, the Russian government should have an independent, effective, efficient electoral body that will carry out free and fair elections, which will ensure only the elected individuals ascend to power, thus avoiding post-election violence. Thirdly, Russians migrate due to sexual and social inequality. For instance, the Lesbian, Gay, bisexual, and transgender community are not recognized in Russia. They are treated hostile, and homosexuality is viewed as abuse to masculinity. LGBT are not allowed even to adopt children or get legal protection. As a result, many who belong to the LGBT have fled to western countries where they are treated equally. This problem can be solved by the government setting up laws in parliament legalizing the LGBT. The laws should allow them to adopt children and also the privilege to have legal protection. The fourth reason for migration is migration for personal reasons such as the quest for better education, better healthcare services at the Western countries as well as migration for family reasons. Many Russians flee because of the search for the treatment of cancers, better life expectancy in western countries, among other reasons. Some migrate in search of better education. These problems can be solved by having policies that will the education systems, such as having exchange programs with students from western countries, having a curriculum that imparts on young scholars the idea that Russia is the best and thus no need to flee, building better hospitals and equipping them to deal with current health problems such as cancer. In addition the countries health care system should focus on primary health care that encourages people to live a healthy life. Adoption of policies that will ensure a better health and education system will reduce the emigration of Russians to western countries. Other causes of emigration included Environmental factors such as Chernobyl disaster that occurred in 1986 as well the fact that certain parts of the country cannot be inhabited due to harsh weather conditions such as extreme cold. Environmental factors like the Chernobyl accident was a nuclear accident that should be avoided. Recurrence of such should be avoided by having strict laws globally that regulate nuclear weapons, and all countries should adhere to it for the sake of humanity. Last but not least, there are several key problems that led to the emigration of Russians. However, all is not lost following the mitigation mentioned above ways will go a long way in solving the emigration problem. Long live in Russia.

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