Wednesday, March 16, 2011

From Russia, With Hate

Last night, while I should have been studying for my midterm or sleeping, I was watching a short film about Neo Nazism in Russia on youtube. I was so disturbed. Here's what I have to say about it:

Racism and Neo-Nazism is on the rise in Russia. And as one guy put it "The Russian Government won't systematically deal with the immigrant issue. So we're dealing with it." Attack against minorities are daily in Russia, and often result in death. "being a black man in Moscow is dangerous...I always watch my back...If I'm going to class, I go straight there." Foreign students in some of Moscow's universities are under lock down during the days surrounding Hitler's Birthday. Purely out of safety reasons.

Essentially, the main argument for brutal violence against visible minorities was that they took away jobs that Russians could potentially fill. They were angry that immigrants were (somehow) preventing Russians from the jobs, money and essentially attention they deserve. Native Russian populations are on the decline, and immigration to Russia has picked up steadily since they opened their borders.

"Controlled migration could help compensate Russia's population decline and labour shortage. Russia's population shrinks by 700,000 people each year due to high mortality and low birth rates. On the other hand, the unregistered nature of labour migration to Russia deprives migrants of citizen rights, making them vulnerable to underground employers and creating fears among Russians that immigration could drastically alter the country's ethnic makeup."

"Poor immigrants have completely destroyed our lives." said one Neo Nazi. Skinheads argue that employers will hire immigrants over Russians because Russians demand higher pay wages than the immigrants. Yet, one website states that there is a labour shortage in Russia's growing economy, and the 2007 immigration policy was implemented to fill that.

In February, the Russian government made moves to ban specific illegal parties that supported anti-immigration, but have not altered the main immigration policy - leaving anti-immigration supporters insensitive to the ban.

A few questions I would like to pose is this: Would Russia be thriving as it is today if it weren't for foreign investment, occupation and support? Would Russia be successful if all immigration was banned?

I've been doing some research, and the general conclusion among supporters of banning immigration is basically that, "Immigrants take, and don't give." Three years ago, the USA Immigration policy allowed roughly 2 to 4 million immigrants every year to enter their borders. Some argued that this caused the economic downfall: Immigrants receiving benefits, and sending their income back to their 'homelands'. Some argued that it simply caused over population and thus a lower distribution in resources.

It's obvious that immigrants cause problems for native populations, but what is the best way to handle the situation? Personally, I don't think violence against minorities is the answer - but apparently some people do.

If you're interested in watching the short film about Neo Nazim in YouTube, you can view it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLUxuq-E9yA (PART ONE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuOVgx3Zh6E&feature=related (PART TWO)
*This does have graphic content. So watch this on an empty stomach..."

Resources:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080308140126AAXb0K8
http://cofcc.org/2011/02/major-russian-anti-illegal-immigration-group-banned/
http://www.euromonitor.com/russias-new-immigration-policy-will-boost-the-population/article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwAnEj2Y8gg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/30/russian-skinheads-attack-_n_698744.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_National_Socialist_Party
http://nationalism.org/rnsp/

No comments:

Post a Comment