Russia has experienced a strong surge in emigration of citizens leaving EN masse and leaving for permanent residence abroad. The negative trend started in 2012, and in 2015, according to official data of Rosstat of Russia was gone for good 350 thousand people or 10 times more than for example in 2010-m to year.
This is the highest number of immigrants in the past 16 years. Like all waves of emigration, the current also has its reasons, which sociologists call social tensions and restriction of political freedoms in the country. Significantly aggravated the situation and the economic crisis, which only accelerated the emigration processes in Russia. Among those leaving today high level of the so-called “brain drain” is leaving the country the Russians with higher education, entrepreneurs and specialists in the field of information technology.
The main directions of emigration from Russia traditional — European Union countries, USA and Israel. According to recent surveys, about 22% of Russian citizens do not mind to arrange their lives outside the country. Though in fact firmly intend to do so in the near future, a little more than 1%, at least such a number of respondents admitted it to pollsters.
Now it is mainly students or young entrepreneurs. Interestingly, the sharp rise in the statistics of emigration from Russia began after the parliamentary elections of 2011 and the mass demonstrations in Moscow whose participants believed the election results were rigged. About the same period it became known about the second presidential term of Vladimir Putin, then Russia began tightening domestic policy. The state Duma adopted a number of laws that significantly restrict the rights of citizens and public organizations. To cost to notice that in parallel with this happening and the process of immigration to Russia citizens of the former Soviet republics. However, basically we are talking about migrant workers from Muslim countries, which is quite a dramatically changing ethnic and religious composition of the population of Russia and also increases the overall tension in society.
