Dr. Denise L. Spitzer
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      • Intersections of Gender, Work and Health: Migrant Beer Sellers in Southeast Asia
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      • Human Trafficking in eastern Ethiopia: Navigating the causes, nature and routes
      • Retrenched and Returned: Flexible Migrants in the Global Economy
      • Orienting Live-in Caregivers
      • Transnational Families in Transition: Filipino Families, Canadian Issues
      • Images of a Globalized World: Collaborative Visual Ethnography, Intersectionality, and Health
      • Reflections on Kyrgyz Migration
      • Social Support Intervention for Sudanese and Zimbabwean Refugee New Parents
      • Multiple Cultural Transitions and Women's Identities: A Focus on Taiwanese-Canadians
      • Exploring the Experiences of Socially and Economically Disadvantaged People in Canada: Qualitative Analysis
      • Picture This…Migrant Lives, Healthy Lives
      • The Land of Milk and Honey? After the Live-In Caregiver Program
      • Foreign Domestic Workers in Malaysia: Exploring the Intersections of Gender, Migration and Health
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Reflections on Kyrgyz Migration​

PROBLEM: Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz economy has struggled. Migrant remittances comprise nearly one-third of Kyrgyzstan's GDP.  Official sources have stated that between 2004-08, 800,000 Kyrgyz have sought work in Kazakhstan and Russia. Indeed from January to October of 2010, migrants sent over $900 million USD in remittances through the Kyrgyz National Bank. There has been, however, scant research on the impact of migration on Kyrgyz households, particularly in a diversity of geographical settings.

Picture©2016 Denise Spitzer
​PROJECT TEAM:

Principal Investigator: 
  • Dr. Denise L. Spitzer

Co-Investigators
  • Dr. Kenesh Dzhusupov, Kyrgyz State Medical Academy
  • Dr. Tamara Kudaibergenova, Arabaev Kyrgyz State University

FUNDING:
Canada Research Chair Program

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  Our specific objectives are to: (1) understand the social and economic impact of immigration on Kyrgyz households in disparate parts of the country; (2) examine the nature of remittances and their impact on Kyrgyz migrant households; (3) uncover the attitudes towards and response to familial separation due to labour migration; and (4) develop plans for future research on migration in the region.

METHODS:   As this is an exploratory study, we employ qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews and focus groups) to understand the issues faced by migrants and migrant households and their strategies for coping with them.  Specifically, we will interview 25-28 returned migrants or adult members of migrant households in the cities and environs of Bishkek and Osh. 

OUTCOMES:
  1. This preliminary study will add to the literature on this understudied phenomenon of migration in Central Asia 
  2. It will contribute to the development of future research undertakings.

PRESENTATIONS:
  • Reflections on Kyrgyz Migration.  Spitzer, D. L., Dzusupov, K., and Kudaibergenova, T. (2014). The International Congress of Kyrgyzstanets and Compatriots "Zamandash," Issy-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, August 20.  

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