Feature; Migration Turmoil

The group of volunteers and refugees

The long-term

After this action, BiCortex was keen to provide meaningful long-term support and began offering free online Spanish lessons for Ukrainian refugees, helping them to integrate into Spanish society and the job market.

We began offering these through our own resources, but soon discovered that in order to reach a greater number of people and make a real difference to the lives of the participants, we would need external support. We are delighted to have received donations from some of our partners including Sterling Lexicon, Cultural Awareness International and Learncube, alongside private individuals, in order to sustain this initiative. We have also employed a number of refugees within BiCortex as teachers or translators, allowing them to continue to work and earn an income.

Some of the Ukrainian students (and a teacher) attending BiCortex’s free Spanish lessons

Around 150 students have undertaken the free lessons so far. These are held online using our bespoke teaching platform in groups with bilingual Spanish-Ukrainian speaking teachers – this is important as some of the students don’t speak any Spanish at all. Students progress through CEFR-aligned course levels starting at A1.1 and cover the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). All class materials are provided.

We are proud to have been able to assist in this way in an initiative which involves the dedication and time of the entire company through recruitment, training and administration. However, there are costs associated both with paying the teachers, provision of materials and the upkeep of the teaching platform. We need further donations in order to continue the groups so that the students can reach a B2 level in Spanish and find a job in Spain. Those who would like to make a donation may contact us.

Feature: Expatland Global Network “2022 A Year of Migration Turmoil”

By John Marcarian, Founder

2022 has been a year of turmoil for many people around the world. No more is this the case than in the Eurasian region.

Political and military events that started in Ukraine in February have caused millions of people to relocate themselves and their families.

Some were forced to make an instant decision, while others had more time to think and plan their next step.

Broadly speaking the motivations for many expat moves this year have been one of the following:-

1) Concerns about physical safety;

2) Concerns about the general business environment of the expat’s homeland; and

3) Opportunities for improved lifestyle and business prospects.

In the case of point 1 above it is reasonably clear that not too many people would, if they had a viable choice, wish to live under the threat of war for a long time period of time. Eventually they will (and indeed many have) commenced a search for a ‘safe harbour’.

In the case of people from Ukraine the ‘safe harbour’ was the Euro Zone. These people have generally been welcomed by volunteers and locals who have helped these new migrants settle and find a shelter.

With respect to point 2 and point 3 though, it is very interesting to look into some of these motivations particularly

regarding Russian expatriates. While Dubai has been noted as a place of interest for many Russian expatriates, some not so obvious relocation decisions have been made by many business owners and companies.

Let us look at this category.

Throughout the history of the former USSR, many of its Republics played and were seen to play a supporting role to Mother Russia. Often, much (or all) of the coordination as to what occurred in these Republics in key areas of the economy was planned from Moscow. Indeed many citizens of those Republics strived to move to Moscow to get Russian citizenship. A widely held view was that they would be safer under a range of circumstances and economic opportunities were more plentiful than those at home.

On many occasions research indicates that at various times in the 20th century people from these Caucasian or Middle-

Asian republics were not necessarily treated quite the same

(either in terms of general community acceptance or by the Party bureaucracy) as Russians living in Moscow.

Although this attitude began to soften in the last 30 years, there were elements of this differential treatment preserved until relatively recently.

In former times it was generally the case that many Russians only rarely visited these regions for a brief business visit, before rushing back to the swirling prosperous Moscow.