Аннотация:
This thesis explores the experience of being an ethnic returnee, an individual “returning”
to the land where their ancestors had once migrated from. Return motivations, post-return
experiences, and transnational connections of Kazakh returnees are a vastly under-researched
area in the return migration literature. This thesis aims to answer three research questions: what
were the return motivations of Kazakh returnees migrating from Russia, Uzbekistan, Mongolia,
and China; why do returnees experience disappointment about moving to Kazakhstan; and how
does post-return transnationalism influence their life at the cultural homeland? The data draws
on 20 semi-structured interviews conducted online due to COVID-19 restrictions. The findings
indicate that returnees are driven to migrate to Kazakhstan because of challenges in their host
countries, but after arrival they experience linguistic difficulties, economic insecurity,
corruption, and negative attitudes from the local community. Such experiences produced
feelings of disappointment about their homecoming, which turns into feelings of not belonging
to one's ethnic homeland, Kazakhstan. In addition, the results indicate that regardless of Kazakh
returnees’ countries of origin, their post-return transnational ties with families and friends who
were left behind help Kazakh returnees to cope with feelings of disappointment about
homecoming