Pioneering new migration routes: central Asian truck drivers’ experiences in the EU

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ABSTRACT A new stream of migration from Central Asia to countries of the European Union is being spearheaded by workers employed in the truck driving industry. This is part of a trend of increasing diversification of the destinations of migration from Central Asia. This paper examines how drivers exert their agency when choosing between migration destinations. To do so, we interviewed twenty Kyrgyz and Uzbek drivers about the differences they perceived between working in Europe and their previous experiences in Russia. We find that new work migration flows to the EU are following an established pattern in which costs associated with labour are sustained in the destination country, and the costs of social reproduction are borne in the origin country. Results also suggest that when presented with multiple destination options, migrant workers can strategize within the boundaries imposed by the overall terms of migration.