A Chat in the Yurt, discussing Central Asia and Europe. Episode XXX – Trucking through Europe

Step into our Yurt and join us for a monthly conversation on Europe-Central Asia developments. In this series of podcasts, we welcome guests from both regions to discuss exciting new research and the latest developments in Europe and Central Asia. Together, we discuss society trends, political developments, economic turns, and cultural highlights while assessing the past and looking ahead to what may unfold.

In this episode, hosts Yelena Kalina and Kamila Smagulova meet with Giulio Benedetti, who isa PhD candidate at Maastricht University and Research Fellow at the Yerevan Center for International Education. His research focuses on informality and migration in the post-Soviet space. Together with colleagues he published ‘Pioneering new migration routes: Central Asian truck drivers’ experiences in the EU’ as well as other work on this topic.

Over the last few years there has been a steep rise of Central Asians working in the European Union. While the figures are still dwarfed by the millions of workers that earn their living in Russia, there are now more than 200.000 Central Asians in the EU. They are active in such sectors as agriculture, construction, healthcare, and transport. Especially the latter branch is popular among Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek lorry drivers. Hosts and guest discuss safety and living conditions. Ample attention is devoted to the way Central Asian truck drivers communicate among each other and with their peers from Europe as well as their presence on social media.  

Join EUCAM in the Yurt via SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple podcasts. Be part of the discussion by posing questions and sharing your thoughts on our social media: LinkedIn, Bluesky, andMastodon. EUCAM is a programme of the Centre for European Security Studies (CESS), the Netherlands.