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2017.03.009. ANTON SHMELEV, YULIA POTAPOVA. THE INFLUENCE OF MIGRATION PROCESSES ON THE MOSLEM COMMUNITY OF RUSSIA // "Islam v sovremennom mire", Moscow, 2015, Volume 11, № 2, P. 146-152.
Keywords: Moslems, Ummah, polyethnicity, Islam, radical Islamism, terrorism, Wahhabism, mosque.
Anton Shmelev,
PhD (Hist.), associate professor the Institute of International Relations and World History Yulia Potapova,
a student of Nizhny Novgorod State University
The authors of the article note that Russia has historically been a multi-national and multi-ethnic country. Traditionally, the Moslem Ummah has been an inalienable and essential part of Russian society, as it is today, thanks to vigorous influx of people from different countries. At the moment, 40% of the total number of migrants in Russia come from Moslem countries. In the era of globalization, the world has become more open, migration processes are gaining momentum, especially those from the countries of the former Soviet Union. According to 2010 data, 489 357 migrants were temporarily residing in Russia, about half of them came from the CIS countries - 208 782 people. Migrants can be conditionally divided into three large groups.
1. Working migrants. According to the All-Russian Census of 2010, the largest flow of people comes from Uzbekistan (73 248 people) and Tajikistan (36 111 people). The main purpose of the move is earnings: 63 979 people from Uzbekistan and 30 803 people from Tajikistan came to Russia for this reason. The characteristic features of this group are: voluntary migration, high chances of adaptation and an interest in finding a job; the main part consists of young and middle-aged men without families.
2. Forced migrants and refugees. A significant contribution to the increase in the population of the Russian Federation in the 1990s was made by the inflow of trade migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons from the Caucasus. The specificity of this group is the prevalent number of families with children, which in the majority would like to return to their homeland.
3. Educational migration. In most cases, radical developments in Islam are brought to Russia by young Moslems who studied abroad in Islamic educational institutions, as well as by foreigners who interpret Islam in theological educational institutions not in the way traditional with the Moslems of Russia, but from the standpoint of radical nationalist Islamism .
All these categories have their own influence with the Moslem community. The majority of people come to find a job. In our country there is a shortage of cheap labor force, today, according to the statistics, there are 1.800.000 vacancies, and in Moslem countries, on the contrary, population growth is observed, but the labor market is not yet able to provide the place for every potential employee. Migrants come to Russia in the most part legally, but some of them work without proper registration of documents, they poorly orient themselves in the country, speak Russian with great difficulty. They need to adapt to the new way of life and culture; need socialization and moral support; need communication with representatives of their people. The main spiritual and religious center for the orthodox Moslem is a mosque. But most of the modern Moslem migrants experience serious difficulties in adapting to the new conditions, such as fear, distrust, external factors (media, law enforcement). They come to earn their living and help their family, left back home.
Most of them have no appropriate education, which in many ways is the main reason for religious fanaticism. People, who are poorly developed spiritually, can fall under the influence of terrorist groups whose activities are aimed at overthrowing secular power or destabilizing the situation in the region. Thus, the migrants come to Russia with a certain planted outlook, through the prism of which
they communicate with the world around them and influence it. The inability to distinguish between good and bad and pure ignorance lead to sad consequences, such as conflicts and terrorist acts.
Today, more and more ethnic conflicts are associated with Islam. This happens, the authors write, for the following reasons.
1. The struggle of religious associations. Controversies arise between the Central Spiritual Administration of Moslems of Russia and the Council of Muftis of Russia, about supporting Wahhabism, receiving material assistance from foreign Islamic centers associated with Wahhabi terrorist groups. For the state, this is a serious problem, which creates tension not only in government circles, but also projected onto society itself.
2. Opposition of migrants to the indigenous population. Such actions as voluntary refusal (caused by distrust, hostility) from socialization, rejection of the host country's rules, ignorance of laws and their own rights, generate conflicts on both sides. On the one hand, one can note the attempt to commit arson to mosques in Volgograd and Astrakhan, on the other hand, there is an illustrative example of setting up prayer rooms for reading namaz five times a day for working Moslems. Their number is growing, especially in the markets where working Moslems are especially numerous. But at the same time there arises a real threat of terrorist attacks, directly related to the prayer rooms. Setting up and distribution of prayer rooms is a consequence of the lack of mosques in the country, which leads to decrease in the level of interaction between Moslems, which gives rise to the forming up small religious closed groups. But most Moslems are interested in religious activities in the framework of official mosques. Conflict situations are many, it is also necessary to take into account the fact that cases of manifestations of intolerance and disrespect towards representatives of different nations are often demonstrated on both sides.
3. Negative influence on the Russian Moslem community. From what has been said above, it follows that these conflicts in most cases have a negative impact on the indigenous Moslems of Russia who have lived on this land for a long time and have
established themselves as respectable neighbors. Unfavorable events associated with representatives of their nationality can radically undermine the trust that has been being built for centuries.
The problem of the influence of migrants on the Moslem community of Russia today is extremely acute. Vladimir Putin urged the Moslem leadership to pay special attention to the development of adaptation policies for Moslem newcomers. In Russia there are many special programs, including the federal target program "Strengthening the Unity of the Russian Nation and the Ethno-Cultural Development of the Peoples of Russia (2014-2020)". It is also worth noting that Russia has a large number of Moslem cultural centers, youth and women's centers, as well as scientific and educational clubs. Moslem holidays are held in many cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod), exhibitions and concerts are organized with the main goal to raise the cultural level of Moslems and a to pay a kind of tribute to traditions and their history.
The authors of the article see main problem in the fact that the particular image, which has already been formed thanks to the mass media and visitors themselves, demonstrates discord and confusion, and the traditions of Islam are presented in a negative way. The unhealthy image forms an appropriate attitude not only to migrants, but also to the indigenous Moslem population. Migration centers for newcomers exist, but they either cannot cover the entire flow, or the migrant themselves do not want to socialize. Therefore, it is necessary to direct efforts to work with the younger generation, which can become a reliable support for development in this area.
It is necessary, the researchers emphasize, to fundamentally change the attitude of Russian people both to migrants and to Islam in general. At the same time, the paramount task is to create conditions that would stimulate migrants to adaptation and acculturation. Spiritual departments of Moslems are able to become a leading institution in implementing this policy in relation to migrant coreligionists.
Author of the abstract - V. Schensnovich
