China Data Center/CCS/CREES Lecture. “Contemporary Chinese Migration to Central Asia: Focus on Kazakhstan.”

Elena Sadovskaya, Fulbright Scholar, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University. Sponsors: China Data Center, CCS, CREES.

Chinese economic presence and Chinese migration is rapidly growing in Central Asia, and Kazakhstan in particular, however it remains largely understudied. The author will explore the causes and dynamics of migration between China, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia; identify key migration patterns; discuss the prevalent attitudes towards Chinese migrants in Kazakhstan; and explore challenges associated with a growing Chinese presence in Kazakhstan and the region. The presentation focuses on the period from 1991, when the former Soviet republics gained sovereignty, up to the present.

Dr. Yelena Sadovskaya is a leading expert on contemporary migration in Kazakhstan, with a range of pioneering research and publications on labor migration and remittances, migration policies, and Chinese migration within Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region.