Sociological assessment of the success of reintegration of migrants returning from Russia to Kyrgyzstan

The relevance of the research is due to the fact that the phenomenon of reintegration of migrants returning from Russia to Kyrgyzstan has not been sufficiently studied. Little research has been done on the problems migrants face when reintegrating into the society of their country of origin; such problems include, for example, economic and social situation, the socio-psychological well-being ofmigrants and the level of reintegration. The aim of the study is sociological assessment of the sustainability of reintegration of migrants returning from Russia to Kyrgyzstan. Scientific novelty consists in the concretization of the term “reintegration” as a multidimensional process that allows migrants to restore the economic, social and psychosocial relationships necessary to move forward in life; and the term “sustainable reintegration”, as the returnees achieve a certain level of economic self-sufficiency, social stability and psychosocial wellbeing; in the development of empirical indicators of sustainable reintegration, such as the ability of a returned migrant to provide for themselves and their family, participate in economic activities, housing, build strong social relationships and be involved in the local community, psychological well-being, the ability to use basic services, and the absence of migration plans after return. We provide a sociological assessment of the sustainability of reintegration of migrants returning from Russia to Kyrgyzstan, based on the results of a questionnaire survey of 515 return migrants, and focus group interviews with 37 return migrants in Kyrgyzstan in October - November 2022. It has been revealed that the reintegration of return migrants from Russia to Kyrgyzstan is quite sustainable in all spheres: economic, social and sociopsychological. At the same time, the returnees have certain problems reflected in the insufficiently high level ofjustification of expectations from the return and in possible intentions to migrate again to Russia or other countries.