Russia aims to expand its migrant worker sources beyond former Soviet republics to include Asian countries like Myanmar, as reported by the Interfax news agency based on statements from the economy minister on Tuesday.
With unemployment at an all-time low of 2.3%, President Vladimir Putin has identified labor shortages as a concern, and on Friday, steel manufacturer Severstal criticized a regional decision to prohibit migrant workers in construction.
Historically, migrants from the former Soviet Union have made up the majority of Russia’s workforce.
“We shouldn’t only focus on the countries we are used to bringing in migrants from,” Interfax quoted Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov during a session in the lower house of parliament.
“We need to explore completely new nations since many countries around the world are actively and intentionally exporting their labor resources,” Reshetnikov noted. “We must be prepared for this.”
Russia is already in negotiations with Myanmar, according to Reshetnikov, which has approximately 6 million of its 55 million population employed abroad. Putin is meeting with Myanmar’s leader and military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing at the Kremlin on Tuesday.
Intensive recruitment by the military and defense sectors has diverted workers from civilian jobs, and many Russians have left the country since Russia deployed tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
Migrant workers from Central Asia have reported increasing hostility towards them in Russia following an attack by Islamist militants from Tajikistan on a concert venue near Moscow in March 2024, which resulted in 145 fatalities.
“We understand clearly that without effective migration regulation, it will be quite challenging for us to progress and fulfill the labor market’s needs, and we need to address these issues openly and have discussions about them,” Reshetnikov stated.
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In conjunction with China, Russia supports Myanmar’s military, as both countries vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned alleged human rights violations in Myanmar.
