Kyrgyz refugees and Russian emigrants in Western China: Ways of resolving the refugee question (Based on the materials of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Russian SFSR in the summer of 1923).

Abstract

The article describes the problems of Kyrgyz and Kazakh population ( Kyrgyz refugees) and Russian emigrants in the focus of the events of 1916 uprising, which resulted in mass emigration to Western China The question of migration losses for titular ethnic groups of the border territories with Western China is still open. It is explained by the high mobility of the border population, the presence of resettlement enclaves and ethnic zones in the adjacent territories. The scale of human losses due to emigration is estimated on the basis of the number of displaced persons (Kyrgyz refugees) and Russian-speaking people. The article introduces into scientific circulation the protocols of two meetings of the PCFA of the RSFSR authorized persons in Western China dated July 23 and 25, 1923, devoted to the situation of ethnic refugees and Russian emigrants in Xinjiang province, as well as to the issues of their repatriation to Soviet Russia. The documents characterize the phenomenon of mass refugees caused by the 1916 uprising and the Civil War. Also, these documents analyze the history of the refugee issue in the region and its specifics, provide quantitative estimates of the number of displaced population, and categorize it. These papers contain recommendations on the implementation of the policy of accounting and control of the population displaced abroad, its sovietization and repatriation.