Alkhasov S.S. Discrimination of migrants in the housing rental market in the border cities of the South of Russia. Nauchnoe obozrenie. Seriya 2. Gumanitarnye nauki [Scientific Review. Series 2. Human Sciences]. 2021. No. 4-5. Р. 5-14. DOI: 10.26653 ...

Abstract

Discrimination on the basis of nationality and race is a widespread phenomenon in the Russian housing rental market. Discrimination is prohibited by law. However, there is no law enforcement practice. Against this background, landlords, realtors and internet real estate portals publish discriminatory advertisements. In Moscow the situation is most acute. Of particular interest is discrimination in the South of Russia, a complex multiethnic and multicultural border macro-region. The analysis of the advertisements showed that discrimination in the southern Russian housing rental market is currently moderate compared to the capital region: the minimum in Astrakhan (less than 1%) and the maximum in Stavropol and Novorossiysk (about 9%). The presence of discriminatory advertisements does not lead (or almost does not lead in the case of Sochi and Krasnodar) to economic costs for migrants. At the same time, the significant part of the population (74.9% according to V.I. Mukomel’s data) is inconsistent in their attitudes towards migrants of other ethnicities. This kind of instability creates the risk of exacerbation of interethnic relations in the South of Russia, in the Northern Caucasus. Countering discrimination in the rental housing market is one of possible measures to smooth out potential tensions.