Integration Potential of Migrants and the Host Society: Similarities and Differences (on the Example of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Abstract

The article provides the analysis and comparison of the integration potential of the host society and migrants in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The analysis was carried out on the basis of two surveys: a representative survey of residents of the republic and a survey of labour migrants - immigrants from Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan). It is these categories of migrants that are most negatively perceived by the local population. The surveys were conducted in 2020. For a quantitative assessment of the integration potential, a set of questions-judgments was constructed, reflecting different parameters of this potential. Among them: the willingness of the host population to include migrants in their community and the corresponding judgment of migrants about their readiness to be included in the environment; judgment about the integration possibilities of migrants and the assessment by migrants of the acceptability of local standards of lifestyle, and others. Using the procedure of factor analysis, an indicator of the integration potential was formed. It was revealed that among migrants the share of people with a high integration potential is significantly higher than in the host community. This means that migrants assess the receiving environment and their own integration prospects higher than local residents. The high level of ethno-negative attitudes of the host community is accompanied by a low level of integration potential in relation to migrants. Such negativism is most often associated with a sense of cultural distance in the perception of migrants' behaviorur. At the same time, a pronounced focus on ethnicity in different contexts of social interaction is also associated with a low integration potential in relation to migrants and can be a source of the formation of stable xenophobic attitudes. The high level of integration potential of migrants is primarily associated with long-term plans for life in Russia and this region, as well as with the presence of a family (in the region of residence or in the country of origin). Thus, for local communities, the main criterion for assessing migrants is the degree to which their behaviorur corresponds to local socio-cultural norms, and for migrants, the key criterion for assessing the host society is a measure of the possibility of a safe and materially prosperous life in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and in Russia as a whole. Such a difference in assessment criteria can create additional obstacles for both parties to active daily interaction in different areas inhibiting the processes of mutual integration.