Russian Public Opinion Research Center Levada has published details on the treatment of Russians to migrants from CIS countries.

To the question “Could you tell how you approach migrant laborers from Transcaucasian countries (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan)” 10 percent of the respondents said “Well, I sympathize with them,” 51 percent—“tolerantly, neutrally” and 34 percent—“badly.” 10 percent of the respondents found it hard to answer the question.

In fact, Russians treat migrant laborers from Central Asia even worse than Armenian migrants: 10 percent of the respondents sympathize with them, 48 percent treat them tolerantly and neutrally, while 38 percent—badly. 5 percent of the respondents were not able to answer the question.

At the same time, Russians treat visitors from Ukraine and Belarus better than Armenian migrants: 52 and 57 percent of respondents show tolerant treatment to their arrival in Russia, while 19 and 13 percent of respondents treat them badly. 25 percent of the respondents sympathize with migrant laborers from these countries.

Overall, 67 percent of the respondents urged the government of the country to limit the influx of migrant laborers to the country. Conversely, 19 percent of the respondents are not against migrants working in the territory of Russia, 13 percent finding it hard to answer the question.  

According to 32 percent of the Russians, migrants are, as a rule, “undereducated people, who are capable only of unqualified labor.” 28 percent think that they are “unfortunate people, who have to suffer many difficulties and privations,” while 26 percent of the respondents look upon migrants as “diligent people ready to work.” Finally, 25 percent think they are “supporters taking care of the wellbeing of their families.”

Thus, two third of Russians (67 percent) consider that the Russian government should try to limit the influx of migrant laborers arriving in the country.

The survey was conducted on February 17-20 among 1,600 people in 137 settlements of 48 Russian regions.