Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Russian Citizens Abroad

Abstract

Russia’s diaspora policies target a broad category of compatriots including both Russian nationals residing abroad and non-nationals with Soviet background, which are estimated at around 30 million people. Russian nationals abroad constitute about 1/5 of all compatriots residing abroad. Diaspora-related legislation and institutional framework are focused on compatriots living in former Soviet republics, so-called ‘Near Abroad’. Until 2006, diaspora policies addressed primarily cultural and language support of Russian-speaking compatriots abroad. In 2007, to compensate for the natural population decline, Russian authorities launched the State Program for Assisting Compatriots Residing Abroad in Their Voluntary Resettlement in the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, after 2010, the outflow of Russian nationals for permanent residence abroad increased. Between 2011 and 2017, the estimated 2.7 million people left the country to live somewhere beyond former Soviet republics. Russian citizens residing abroad have a right to pension benefits, one family-related benefit, and free access to public health services on the territory of Russia. Russian nationals permanently residing in the so-called ‘Far Abroad’ have been mostly beyond the outreach of the Russian authorities. Legislative initiatives targeting specifically this category of compatriots are rare, and often associated with control mechanisms rather than support measures.