The Role of Repatriate Organisations in the Integration of Kazakhstan’s Oralmandar

Abstract

This article explores origins, structure and functions of repatriate organisations created by Kazakh return migrants in Kazakhstan. The article examines the factors that stimulate Kazakh repatriates to self-organise, analyses the functions of repatriate organisations, and investigates their role in the integration of Kazakh repatriates in their historical homeland. It argues that, although repatriate organisations have been indispensable to the integration of Kazakh repatriates, they cannot be considered as a viable social movement. The political opportunity structure approach is used here to explain the limited ability of repatriate organisations to become a successful collective actor.

Acknowledgement

From 2016–2018 the research was carried out at the Kazakh-German University (DKU) and supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funding from the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany (Projekt-ID: 2016-301523, 2017-57373308, 2018-57424012). A preliminary version of this article was presented at the Joint ESCAS-CESS Regional Conference in Bishkek in 2017. We are especially thankful to Peter Finke, ETH Zurich, for his comments.

Notes

1 See for example, Diener (2005a, 2005b, 2007, 2009), Sancak and Finke (2005), Kuscu (2008, 2012), Alff (2010, 2011, 2013), Cerny (2010), Buri and Finke (2013), Finke (2013), Oka (2013), Werner and Barcus (2015), Shanatibieke (2016), Werner et al. (2017).

2 The term of ‘repatriate organisations’ was first used by F.W. Warner in relation to organisations created by Japanese repatriates after World War II (Warner 1949). Unlike repatriate organisations, the term ‘migrant’ or ‘immigrant organisation’ is used more broadly for associations created by immigrants (Cordero-Guzmán 2005, p. 892; Schrover & Vermeulen 2005, p. 824; Rahmonova-Schwarz 2012, p. 199). Repatriates or ‘ethnic return migrants’ are defined as diasporic people who migrate to an ancestral ‘homeland’ in which they have not lived before. In this sense, ethnic return migration is distinct from ‘return migration’ in which migrants return to their natal homeland, that is, the country where they were born (Tsuda 2009, p. 5).

3 The article is based on fieldwork conducted in 2016; therefore, we refer to Kazakhstan’s capital city as Astana.

4 From 1991 to 2004, more than three million people emigrated from Kazakhstan (UNDP 2006, p. 9). According to Cerny, about two million Russians or 12% of its total population, left Kazakhstan between 1993 and 1999 alone (Cerny 2010, p. 222).

5 For example, the quota in 2016 was set at 1,259 families, while the quota in 1993 was fixed at 10,000 families (UNDP 2006, p. 9). The quota for 2016 is laid down by Decree No. 82 of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 18 February 2016, available at: https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=36228504#pos=0;0, accessed 23 May 2016.

6 The subsistence allowance is paid once after relocation and equals 15 times the ‘monthly calculation index’ (MCI) for the head of the family and 10 MCI for every member of the family (1 MCI is equivalent to 2.269 tenge or an equivalent of US$7). The compensation for moving expenses, including livestock, is granted at the rate of 10 MCI for each family member. The housing allowance is equivalent to 100 MCI for every family member. See Art. 23 of the Law on Migration of 2011, №.477-IV, available at: http://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=31038298#pos=641;-199, accessed 23 May 2016.

7 For the number of repatriates who arrived in 2016, see: ‘Skol’ko oralmanov pribylo v Kazakhstan v 2016 godu’, 26 January 2017, available at: https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/skolko-oralmanov-pribyilo-v-kazahstan-v-2016-godu-310929/, accessed 23 May 2016.

8 According to the data of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan, available at: http://www.mzsr.gov.kz/ru/node/338787, accessed 24 May 2016.

9 The term Oralman came into use first in 1994 and was adopted officially in the migration law of 1997 (see Art. 1(13)). To date, the term remains contested among experts and Oralmandar themselves, who believe that the term classifies them as immigrants even though they are ethnic Kazakhs who have returned to their homeland. During interviews, we came across other terms preferred by ethnic Kazakhs to refer to themselves, including bauyrlas (brothers), kandastar (bloodsmen), and agaiyndar (compatriots, kin). Throughout the text the plural Oralmandar is used to refer to all Kazakh repatriates.

10 According to the data of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Republic of Kazakhstan, available at: http://www.mzsr.gov.kz/ru/node/338787, accessed 31 January 2017.

11 According to the Law on Population Migration and other legislative acts, Kazakh returnees should be temporarily accommodated in adaptation centres upon arrival. At the time of writing, there were 14 such centres throughout the country. According to the UNDP report, there is a limit of 20 days for those who use the centres; for some returnees, however, these become permanent dwellings (UNDP 2006, p.19).

12 Unfortunately, there is a general unavailability of secondary sources on recent figures related to the housing situation of Oralmandar. The authors also inquired with official authorities, receiving no response.

13 The quota system was resumed in 2014 (Oka 2013, p. 9, fn 15).

14 See also Diener (2005a, p. 472), Finke (2013).

15 See also Werner and Barcus (2015).

16 The preference for highly skilled migrants was also listed in Article 20(4) of the 2011 Migration Law, which remains the most recent law regulating migration to Kazakhstan. The article stipulates that ethnic Kazakhs ‘who have appropriate education, qualification and work experience are given priority for inclusion in the regional quota for receiving Oralmandar’. See, Zakon Respubliki Kazakhstan o Migratsii Naseleniya, available at: https://online.zakon.kz/document/?doc_id=31038298#pos=3;-108, accessed 8 May 2020.

17 See also Werner et al. (2017).

18 See also Cerny (2010).

19 See also Alff (2011, 2013), Sancak and Finke (2005).

20 ‘Kazakstan Respublikasında zandı turde tirkelgen oralmandardın kogamdık korları jane kogamdık uyımdarı’ (Public funds and public organizations of repatriates legally registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan), Ministry of Health and Social Development, 2016. The list of NGOs was made available to the authors upon request to the Ministry of Health and Social Development in April 2016.

21 Interview with Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016. Throughout this article, pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of interviewees.

22 Interview with Elmira, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

23 For the role of civic habits see Voicu and Rusu (2012, p. 796).

24 Interview with Baurzhan, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

25 Interview with Baurzhan, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

26 Interview with Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

27 Interview with Kanat, Almaty, 2 July 2016.

28 Interview with Kanat, Almaty, 2 July 2016.

29 Interview with Sayat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

30 Interview with Elmira, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

31 Interview with Elmira, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

32 Interview with Kanat, Almaty, 2 July 2016.

33 Kyzai ana (Mother Kyzai) is one of the most honourable Kazakh women and is considered a historical person. The name she was given at her birth was Kunbibi. She was born in the present day region of South Kazakhstan, in aul Uzynbulak near the mountains of Karatau, around 1402 and died in 1472. She was buried at the foot of Mount Kyzylzhay, Almaty region. Her father was the famous bi (judge) and bai (rich man) Baidibek Karashauly, while her mother Domalak ana was the daughter of the imam of the Arab mosque Bab in Turkestan. At the age of 17 she was married to Batyr Shagyr of the Naiman clan. The descendants of her four sons (Itemgen, Menis, Begimbet, Derbis) began to be called ‘Kizai family’ or ‘Kyzai people’ in honour of her mother (interview with Galym, Almaty, 25 June 2016). According to Shanatibieke, the clan Kyzai is a cadet branch of the Nayman clan of the Orta Juz (Kazakh middle horde). It was subject to the Qing court in 1864 after the signing of the Treaty of Tarbagatai. In 1882, Kyzai moved from Bortala to the Ili region in contemporary China. Today Kyzai has a large population and together with the Nayman, Alban and Kerey clans has become one of the main Kazakh clans in China (Shanatibieke 2016, p. 7, fn 8).

34 Interview with Galym, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

35 Interview with Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

36 Interview with Kanat, Almaty, 2 July 2016.

37 Interview with Sayat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

38 According to Article 10 of the Law on Public Associations and Article 19 of the Law on Non-Commercial Organisations, public associations can be founded on the initiative of a group of at least ten persons. ‘Zakon Respubliki Kazakhstan ob obchestvennykh ob”edeneniyakh ot 31 maya 1996 goda’, available at: https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=1005615#pos=36;-60; ‘Zakon Respubliki Kazakhstan ot 16 yanvarya 2001 goda № 142-II, “О nekommercheskikh organizatsiyakh” (s izmeneiyami i dopolneniyami po sostoyaniyu na 03.12.2015)’, available at: https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=1021519#pos=5;-106&sel_link=1000474308, both documents accessed 10 May 2020.

39 Interview with Galym, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

40 Interview with Baurzhan, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

41 Interview with Kanat, Almaty, 2 July 2016.

42 Interviews with: Elmira, Almaty, 25 June 2016; Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

43 ‘Zakon Respubliki Kazakhstan ot 12 aprelya 2005 goda, “О gosudarstvennom sotsial’nom zakaze, grantakh i premiyakh dlya nepravitel’stvennykh organizatsii v Respublike Kazakhstan” (s izmeneniyami i dopolneniyami po sostoyaniyu na 02.12.2015 god)’, available at: https://online.zakon.kz/document/?doc_id=30008578#pos=5;-44, accessed 10 May 2020.

44 Article 4 of the law. For more information about the Civil Initiative Support Centre and its work, see https://cisc.kz/en, accessed 10 May 2020.

45 According to the Order of the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan from 25 December 2015 No. 413, ‘On Approval of the Rules for Granting Grants for Non-Governmental Organisations and Monitoring of Their Implementation’, available at: https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=38847221&pin=59751259#pos=0;0, accessed 1 April 2017.

46 According to the information provided by the Civil Initiatives Support Centre, the total of 965,413,000 tenge, the equivalent of US$3 million, was allocated in 2018, available at: http://cisc.kz/ru/projects/plan-2018/1235/, accessed 28 January 2018.

47 See the list of funding areas, available at: http://cisc.kz/ru/projects/plan-2018/1235/, accessed 28 January 2018.

48 Interview with Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

49 Interview with Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

50 Interview with Sayat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

51 Interviews with: Sayat, Astana, 21 October 2016; Elmira, Almaty, 25 June 2016.

52 Interview with Marat, Astana, 21 October 2016.

53 Interview with Talgat Mamashev, 27 September 2016.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Markus Kaiser

Markus Kaiser, Kazakh–German University, Pushkin Str. 111, 050010, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Email: [email protected]

Serik Beimenbetov

Serik Beimenbetov, Kazakh–German University, Pushkin Str. 111, 050010, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Email: [email protected]