The major destination for migrant workers from Turkmenistan is Turkey which offers visa-free conditions for Turkmen nationals. The second most popular country for immigration is Russia, where migrants holding student visas relocate.
One can read about the state of Turkmen migrants in Russia from occasional news items, often negative.For instance, in April, 2021 a bakery was closed in Astrakhan for illegally employing Turkmen nationals.
They violated the length of stay in Russia and are now facing deportation.A citizen of Turkmenistan was held in the deportation centre in Naberezhniye Chelny from October 2020 to April 2021 awaiting repatriation to his home country.
Embassies and Consulates of Turkmenistan provide no assistance to their citizens who contact diplomats directly or via media outlets. Diplomatic missions also do not respond to requests from Russian authorities or human rights activists.
For instance, on 16 April, 2021 the Deputy Interior Minister of Russia Aleksandr Gorovoy addressed officials of the CIS countries with a request to carry out preventive work with illegal migrant workers in Russia to avoid their mandatory deportation.
The official emphasized that he “does not see any steps undertaken by Turkmenistan to repatriate its citizens from detention сentres in Russia”.
At the request of Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, an immigration lawyer Valentina Chupik, Chairperson of NGO “Tong Zhakhoni”, who does pro bono work, was interviewed by the journalist and labour migration specialist Ekaterina Ivashchenko about the situation of Turkmen migrant workers.
How many Turkmen nationals contact you?
Turkmen nationals make up no more than 2% of the total number of those seeking help.This is explained by the fact that unlike migrant workers form other Central Asia countries, there are very few Turkmen.
For instance, of the 54752 people who contacted us in 2020 only 52 were from Turkmenistan.On average one Turkmen national a week contacts me.
What are their problems?
Of those 52 people, eleven have been held in Centers for Temporary Detention of Foreign Nationals for over three months, and four have been held there for over two years.
Two people contacted me about non-payment of salaries and one person’s Russian citizenship, which he had obtained based on the State Assisted Voluntary Return Program, was revoked.
There was one student who was expelled from University and needed advice on how to stay in Russia.There have been several requests to obtain Russian citizenship and two requests to obtain refugee status.
I have received calls from migrant workers detained by the police because they had jobs outside their field.Let me explain.In Russia Turkmen nationals are obliged to have a work permit which specifies their occupation.
Additionally, an employer must also have a permit to employ citizens of Turkmenistan.In cases when Turkmen migrant workers contacted me, there were violations on both sides.
People flee Turkmenistan because they are unable to provide for their families, develop professionally or pursue educational opportunities. They have no prospects. They use any means to settle in Russia. Turkmen nationals fear returning to their home country: despite the fact that they have no conflict with the authorities, they are very frightened of being persecuted.
Turkmen choose visa-free Turkey for immigration.They come to Russia as students or as holders of a business visa, which is valid for 30 days and is issued to a Turkmen company to allegedly conclude a contract or attend negotiations.
The issuance of these visas is often delayed and a Turkmen national will have only 10 to 12 days of stay left.It appears that the authorities realize that people are trying their best to stay in Russia and delay the issuance of visa to make sure people have little time left to stay.
Even forty year olds who speak Russian quite well go to Russia to pursue “educational opportunities” in colleges and Universities.A student visa is valid for a year but it can be extended.
The visa can be extended by paying an annual tuition fee of 30 to 40,000 Rubles or a student can get stranded in Russia.As a lawyer, I deal with the second scenario more often.
However, it is possible that there is a larger number of those who are doing a course of studies quite successfully but a lawyer usually does not work with positive cases but has to handle worst case scenarios.
What opportunities are available for Turkmen nationals to obtain a legal status in Russia?
The first option available is to marry a Russian citizen but the problem is that it is next to impossible to get a “no-marriage certificate” from Turkmen Civil Registry Office. However, a fake certificate can be obtained.
“Chronicles of Turkmenistan” previously reported that for a Turkmen national residing abroad it is extremely complicated to marry a foreigner or even a fellow countryman due to problems with obtaining required certificates.
It takes at least twelve months to obtain a certificate of “no marriage”, which is valid for three months maximum.
Secondly, people try to become holders of visa-free passports.For example, Kyrgyz passports are popular among Turkmen nationals because they are easy to buy.
With this passport one can conclude an employment contract without a work permit, obtain residence registration and live a normal life.However, that is only possible if police do not identify the document as fake.
One can also purchase a genuine stolen ID.Unlike migrant workers from other countries Turkmen citizens are law-abiding (they are officially employed and reside at the place of registration) because they are aware that if they are detained even once, they might face deportation to their home country.
Is it true that Turkmen nationals are kept in Centers for Temporary Detention of Foreign Nationals longer than other migrant workers?
Yes, it is. If Turkmen nationals are sent to Centers for Temporary Detention of Foreign Nationals, they always spend the maximum term there.
During the lockdown Turkmen nationals were not very fortunate.There was a Turkmen female student who got stranded in a Moscow airport because Russia had closed its borders and even students had been unable to come to Russia to resume their studies.
The Turkmen Embassy did not visit her and its only response was when they asked her to stop calling and discrediting the home country because many media outlets were covering her case.
Turkmen nationals were the only ones held in the Moscow Center for Temporary Detention of Foreign Nationals “Sakharavo” when the borders were closed last year.Embassies of other countries repatriated their citizens, but two Turkmen nationals who were detained there in the summer and autumn of 2019 respectively, are still being held there.
When I met them again during my visit to “Sakharovo” this year, they said that they accepted that they would be held there for a maximum term.
Two Turkmen nationals were fined last summer for violating the mask regime.Later it transpired that their visas had also expired.They tried to offer a bribe of 5,000 Rubles to police officers who had then tried to coerce 40,000 Rubles from each of them.
They were ultimately videotaped and apart from violating the mask regime and illegally staying in Russia, charges of offering a bribe were also brought against them.There was nothing I could do to help them and they face deportation.
You often collaborate with staff of Embassies of Central Asia countries. Did you manage to contact officials of the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Moscow?
No, never.I have been working in Russia since the autumn of 2006 but Turkmen nationals did not contact me until 2009-2010.Perhaps I was less well-known, or Turkmen citizens were not aware of our NGO.
The first applications were the same as now: people wanted to know how they could stay in Russia if they had already obtained a University degree.
On a regular basis I invite officials of Turkmenistan’s Embassy to attend our round table discussions on immigration and they even accepted to attend one of them, which was devoted to Centers for Temporary Detention of Foreign Nationals. They promised to come but, needless to say, did not show up.
Officers in Centers for Temporary Detention of Foreign Nationals also send enquiries to the Embassy to request staff to make a return certificate to their citizens. This document is valid for a month only. The certificate is technically issued but it can be sent six months later.
Why do you think the authorities of Turkmenistan ignore the appeals from their citizens?
This is a consequence of dictatorship.However, I don’t think that Embassies are specifically instructed not to help their citizens as such.I assume that the working climate is being created where the authorities need to represent the interests of the state first rather than waste time on migrant workers illegally staying in the country.The post Immigration lawyer says Turkmen migrants in Russia fear returning home first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.