Political Aspects of Migration in South Caucasus in the Soviet Period

The author analyzes political aspects of migration in the South Caucasus during the Soviet period. The political component of voluntary and forced migration is considered in such political subjects as collectivization, deportation of people, repatriation of foreign Armenians and ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus. In Soviet times migration had a planned and forced character. The state attempted to regulate the direction, scale and composition of migration flows as much as possible. This regulation often led to human rights violations. A striking example of this was deportations of population carried out on grounds like social, ethnic, religious and political affiliation. The period of forced displacement in the South Caucasus started in 1930s. At that stage deportations were mostly based on socio-economic statuses. The later (pre-war and wartime) deportations of people were carried out on ethnic grounds. The next influential political subject was repatriation of foreign Armenians. Later stage of migration due to political reasons began in late 1980s. The main reason for this wave of migration was the aggravated relations and military clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhaz conflicts also provoked waves of thousands of internally displaced persons. The author concludes that considerable part of migration in the Soviet Caucasus was due to political reasons. It wore a forced nature and was determined by political will of the country's leadership, which tried to achieve its foreign and domestic political goals through disposal of human resources.