Kyrgyzstan - Migration

As of 1999, the total number of refugees was estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 registered and unregistered (1% of the total population). There were about 13,000 officially registered refugees, mainly from Tajikistan, and about 700 from Afghanistan. The great majority of Tajik refugees were of ethnic Kyrgyz origin and desire to stay in Kyrgyzstan permanently. The government was working with UNHCR to implement an integration package to assist Tajik refugees in their transition to Kyrgyz citizenship. Between 1989-95, 296,000 Russians, 39,000 Ukrainians, and 3,000 Belarussians all departed from Kyrgyzstan. Also, 46,000 Germans (formerly deported under Stalin during World War II from Soviet and Volga regions) returned to Germany. In 2000, the net migration rate was -0.5 migrants per 1,000 population, down from -12.5 in 1990. In 2000 there were 572,000 migrants, including 10,600 refugees. The government viewed the immigration level as too high, but the emigration level as satisfactory.