(Graduate School of Public Policy, 2023) Khuseynov, Shamshod
Economic circumstances often consume discourse on labor migration, while neglecting
intermediate factors. Scholarship on human mobility often attributes labor migration solely to
financial circumstances, ignoring other determinants of population movement. This paper strives
to illuminate the role of additional elements in labor mobility by examining migration flows
between Tajikistan and Russia. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has transformed
into an economic necessity for Tajiks as individuals seek to move north to improve their
financial standing. Although numbers illustrate the drastic nature of Tajik labor migration, they
do not expose the specific determinants of population movement. However, this examination
explores several under-studied factors that reveal labor mobility by synthesizing numerous forms
of primary and secondary qualitative literature. The paper highlights the complex decisionmaking
process of migrants by analyzing the implications of the individuals’ level of Russian,
obtaining citizenship, role and knowledge of entry barriers, and inadequate business connections
that translate into flows between Tajikistan and Russia. Through the case study, the research
depicts the hardships migrants across the world endure that force them to serve as the “ball” in
this transnational game of tennis.