BBC News on foreign students in Russia

[Renee Stillings | Alinga]

I have been living in Moscow without incident for the past 13 years and have 
been sending students, often with darker features, to to Russia for over 10 
years with ample opportunity for feedback if any such issues arise. Luckily, 
none of our students seem to have encountered race-specific violence or 
threats. Much of this has to do with where they spend their time - MGU main 
campus, for example, is not the same kind of target as PFU (which has also 
improved) or some other schools that have a greater number of (non-European) 
international students. The head of the Russian Language Center at MGIMO 
also pointed out to me recently (in so many words) that "such things would 
just not happen on this campus because any Russian with half a brain would 
fear the resources that MGIMO would use to punish him." Sort of like 
stealing a BMW in Moscow - you have to give some thought to who the owner 
might be.

One of my business partners and close friends in Moscow is Guyanese, of 
African descent, albeit very light-skinned. He has the most experience in 
this area as he has lived continuously now in Moscow since 1990. He studied 
at PFU ("Lumumba" in his day) and while he was in school there (up until 
about 1998) he did point out that it was an issue in certain locations - 
particularly near Lumumba, where the troublemakers flocked to find targets. 
Later, as he began working and living in the center, he did mention to me a 
few times that he always felt a bit nervous walking through the underpass 
near the Prague restaurant, or in the area in front of the main Arbat metro 
station. But then again, so did I, and I generally pass for Russian or 
Baltic. A lot of these so-called "skin-heads" and the like would often hang 
out there drinking beer, playing loud music, and while we never heard of 
actually instances of violence in those locations, it just made you nervous 
if you felt you stood out. Those locations seem better now - still a lot of 
kids hang out there drinking beer, but fewer and they don't appear to be the 
black-leather wearing type anymore.

As Tom pointed out, the same street smarts used in any large city should be 
used in Moscow. If you see a group of rowdy drinkers standing around (often 
near metro stations where kiosks sell beer), best to walk around them, or 
minimally not walk through them speaking a foreign language loudly. But who 
would do that here in the US either? We normally just don't encounter this 
because such drinking is not allowed on the street (they are trying to stop 
it, to little avail, in Russia). But we can probably relate to the 
experience of walking into a truly "neighborhood" bar and having everyone 
turn and stare. Particularly the poorer the neighborhood or more remote the 
town. Tom's point is valid that there is somewhat more risk in St. 
Petersburg. We have noted more instances across the board there in terms of 
petty crime, especially during summer tourist months. There is a lot of 
logic as to why the poorer provincial cities would have more issues in this 
regard. Local politicians like to emphasize nationalism to gain popularity, 
making such behavior more "acceptable," and there are plenty of young people 
without better things to do than stand around, drink, and cause trouble. 
Some of these cities have universities (such as some of the medical schools 
in places like Ryazan or Kursk) that attract a sizeable group of foreign 
students that stand out - many from Pakistan, India, etc. Relative to a 
Moscow population that is already fairly mixed, they would not be noticed by 
most, but in a provincial area that is probably intolerant enough of its own 
"minorities" and "outsiders," this creates a potential danger.

In short, if we are speaking of Moscow, it is just like any large city in 
the world. There are certain areas or situations to avoid and a good degree 
of common sense and cultural sensitivity needed.

Renee 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------