“…On the one hand, labour shortages in Russia, higher salaries, visa‐free regimes and relative familiarity with the Russian language and culture often make Central Asian citizens opt for Russia as a destination country instead of, for instance, Turkey or Arab states. On the other hand, unemployment, low incomes, corruption, monopolization of certain industries, lack of welfare provision, violations of human rights and political and economic instability serve as push conditions for emigration from Central Asia (Denisenko, 2017; Lipkova et al., 2020; Turaeva, 2018; Zhanaltay, 2018). Poverty is another major issue in the region, especially in rural areas: the share of the population living on less than $5.5 a day constitutes an overwhelming majority in Uzbekistan (96%), Kyrgyzstan (66%) and Tajikistan (54%) (Lukyanets et al., 2020).…”