Over 1.1mln ethnic Kazakhs return to historical motherland since 1991

1,306 ethnic Kazakhs have returned to the historical motherland and received the status of kandas as of February 1, 2024, Kazinform News Agency reports.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, a total of 1,129,600 ethnic Kazakhs have come back to Kazakhstan since 1991, when the country gained its independence.

More than half of the kandas or 48.9%, who arrived in Kazakhstan since the year beginning, are from China. 29.6% are from Uzbekistan, 8.3% are from Mongolia, 4.4% are from Russia, 7.3% are from Turkmenistan and 1.5% came from other countries.

As of February 1, 2024, the number of ethnic immigrants of employable age made 56.2%. 33.36% are underage children and 10.2% are pensioners.

Most of the kandas were settled in workforce-deficit areas, namely in Akmola, Abai, Kostanay, Pavlodar, East Kazakhstan and North Kazakhstan regions.

Those settling in these areas enjoy the following benefits:

• Lump-sum travel costs to the amount of 70 monthly calculation indices per each family member (258,400 tenge)
• Monthly housing rent and utility allowance for the period of 12 months, amounting from 15 to 30 monthly calculation indices depending on the number of family members (from 55,300 to 110,700 tenge).