The Government of Kazakhstan has issued a decree on tightening the rules for staying in the country for different categories of immigrants. They also include Russian settlers, people who left the Russian Federation during 2022 for various (mainly political) reasons, Коммерсантъ reports.
Given the fact that Russia is a member of the EAEU, its citizens are allowed to stay in Kazakhstan without a residence permit, not 30 days like everyone else, but three times longer, but with a new important caveat: ‘a total of 90 calendar days in every 180 days’.
At the end of December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan noted that in 2022, 5.6 million foreigners entered the country, 2.9 million of which were Russians.
Before the announcement of a partial military mobilization in Russia in September, the daily average entry of Russians into Kazakhstan was 8-9 thousand people, and at the peak of the military mobilization it reached 30 thousand.
According to Коммерсантъ, Armenia can be considered an example of a country welcoming Russian settlers. On December 26, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan announced that Yerevan “must do everything so that the settlers stay in Armenia as long as possible.”
He attributes the unprecedented growth of the economy, 13-14 percent at the end of the year, to the influx of Russians.
According to the politicians of Kazakhstan, the decision of the country's Government is dictated by various considerations. Human rights defender Evgeni Zhovtis, for example, connects the decision with the fear of "social tension". “Kazakhstan was initially afraid of the flow of settlers, because for it, unlike Armenia, the political disadvantages clearly outweigh the economic advantages. There is also the factor of the northern regions, it is populated mainly by Russians who watch Russian TV channels and sympathize with Moscow. After the announcement of the mobilization, people who do not respect the sovereignty of our country started coming to Kazakhstan,” said the human rights defender.
