Unit 8: The Return Migration of the Crimean Tatars from Soviet Exile to Their Homeland

Welcome to this fourth unit in the module, in which we’ll be examining the return migration of forced migrants through the case of the Crimean Tatars.

What’s at stake?

The topic of return migration has received relatively little scholarly attention. While forced displacement and expulsions have been extensively studied, the return of refugees and forced migrants remains an understudied phenomenon.

This has been explained by the fact that the history of migration has only one direction of study and only occasionally pays attention to the movement in the opposite direction.

Scholars acknowledge that migrants often retain the aspiration to return and may even pass this intention across generations, but in practice only a small proportion of displaced populations manage to return to their homeland.

The return migration of the Crimean Tatars offers us an example of what we can describe as an ‘unexpected return’. This is because the Soviet policy of discrimination against the indigenous people of Crimea explicitly prohibited their repatriation to the peninsula.

We’ll use the case of the Crimean Tatars to illustrate that:

• migrants can preserve the desire to return and maintain an imagined homeland while in exile;
• migrants may also undertake the journey back despite official prohibitions;
• difficulties arise with return migration, e.g., home may cease to exist even though physical return becomes possible.

The unit is divided into three main sections:

1. The historical context of deportation and return.
2. Key concepts in the study of return migration.
3. The practice of return.

Throughout the unit you will have the opportunity – which we highly recommend you take –- to explore additional sources of information through the Exercises sections. Independent analytical work will help you develop a more nuanced understanding of the core information provided in the unit.

A reading list of Primary (marked in bold) and Secondary sources is provided at the end; this will guide you on how you can further explore different aspects of return migration.

After studying this unit, you will:

• have an understanding of the historical processes relating to the deportation and return of the Crimean Tatars;
• have a deeper appreciation of the issues relating to return migration;
• be able to use key concepts when studying the topic.