The large influx of migrants from Central Asia to the Volga Federal District (VFD) in the last 13 years - an estimated 2 million - has led to unforeseen economic and social problems for both migrants and Russian administrative bodies tasked to handle their inflow. In response to these issues, Russian NGOs Saratovskiy Istochnik, Egida, and the Center for Assistance to Migrants are being funded under the IREX-administered PartNER Program to provide assistance to migrants entering the VFD. The PartNER-funded organizations have established a Public Information Center (PIC) to provide a range of support services to migrants - including passport-visa assistance, registration requests, legal consultancy, housing/loan processing and various types of advocacy support.
Opened in January, 2004, the PIC handles no less than 50 migrant cases per day. One recent PIC case involves the Posylaev family, who moved from Kyrgyzstan to Saratov in 1995 and was among the few able to register at the Migration Department in Kalininsk (Saratov Oblast). Moving from one dilapidated apartment to another, the family lobbied for two years to secure an interest-free loan (to which they were entitled as registered migrants), finally receiving an official letter from the Migration Department guaranteeing a future home loan. On the basis of this letter, and personal savings, the Posylaev family purchased an apartment in Kalininsk. Shortly thereafter, federal laws governing loan guarantees were revised, invalidating the Posylaev's original loan guarantee. The Migration Department refused to provide a loan to the Posylaev family as outlined in the letter, unable to pay their mortgage, the family faced certain eviction and a lawsuit by the apartment's owner.
On behalf of the Posylaev's family, a PIC lawyer reviewed the case and found enough evidence to file a federal class-action suit against the Migration Department. After several trials in the Saratov District and Regional courts, the Migration Department was ordered to pay the full amount outlined in the original loan-guarantee letter, allowing the Posylaev family to continue to live in their apartment in Kalininsk. This successful case now serves as a model for similar legal actions filed in Samara, Penza, Kirov, the Republic of Tatarstan and other Nizhniy Novgorod regions.
Most migrants entering the VFD continue to be denied the very benefits they came for - mainly jobs, education and social services - due to scarce financial/human resources available to handle their influx. The PIC will continue to operate well beyond the end of the PartNER program to provide relief services and advocate for migrants in the VFD region.
The Public Information Center is made possible by the Partnerships, Networking, Empowering, and Roll-Out Program (PartNER) Program - a three-year, $3.5 million project designed to spur social and economic development in the Volga Federal District (VFD). Funded by USAID and administered by IREX, PartNER is the newest stage in the development of Russian-American partnership projects. By facilitating and strengthening partnerships between organizations and institutions in the US and Russia, the PartNER program benefits the most vulnerable groups of society--women, youth, elderly, unemployed, and people with different abilities, who need assistance to reintegrate successfully into their communities.
