Russian minister looks at ethnic aspect of census

Moscow, 12 October: The all-Russia census, which is under way in this country, will be the only source of information about the ethnic make-up of Russia and places of compact settlement of ethnic groups, Vladimir Zorin, the Minister for Ethnic Policy, said in an interview with the Trud newspaper, which was published on Saturday [12 October]. The interview deals with the ethnic aspect of the census.

There is no item in the passport now, in which the nationality is mentioned. This is why the census gives a unique opportunity to establish the ethnic make-up of Russia, he stressed. The main questions asked during the census include one about the nationality. Zorin stressed in this connection that every Russian citizen decides by himself what nationality he belongs to on the basis of his own feelings. Workers at the census are to put down the answer without any changes.

In the opinion of Zorin, the knowledge about the ethnic make-up of Russia is important for shaping confessional and ethnic policy and for upgrading the migration legislation. According to statistics, every fourth person in the country migrated from one place to another during the past decade. "We have never faced the problem of such extensive migration. It is no secret that migration became one of the sources of tension in society," Zorin said.

He believes uncontrollable migration is one of the main reasons for the aggravation of ethnic extremism. The knowledge of the situation will permit, on the one hand, to protect the interests of the local population and, on the other hand, to protect the rights of migrants. The authorities have come to realise already that migration should be diverted from the Southern and Central Federal Districts and turned to the Far East and Siberia.

The ethnic make-up of Russia has changed a lot since 1989, when the previous census was taken. People of some ethnic groups emigrated on a mass scale. At the same time, thousands of migrants and displaced persons flooded Russia. In 2001 alone some 193,500 people immigrated to Russia, including 108,000 Russians, 18,100 Ukrainians, 8,100 Tatars, 7,100 Armenians and 3,300 Azeris. According to statistics of the past few years, Armenians are one of the ten biggest ethnic groups in Russia. The number of Russian Germans is expected to be reduced, because many of them emigrated from Russia. The same is true of Jews.

According to Zorin, the census will help Russia to pool its resources for creative work, for realistic evaluation of our potentialities and for all-round revival of Russia.