Document #1049315
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to the Commission for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, ethnic Russians comprise over 90 per
cent of the combined populations of the three northeastern Estonian
cities of Narva, Kohtla-Jarve and Sillamae (Sept. 1993, 9). There
are also pockets of Russians in the central areas of Estonia near
Lake Chud (ibid.).
Following independence, Estonia's GNP
decreased in real terms by 12.6 per cent in 1991 and 26 per cent in
1992, as output declined in all sectors (Europa 1993 1993,
1038-39). Approximately 15,000 people were unemployed by early 1993
(ibid.).
A February 1993 report published by the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe states that
unemployment hit Russian-speaking Estonians particularly hard (CSCE
Feb. 1993, 16). However, the report states that this was not the
result of policies of deliberate discrimination, but because this
group was primarily employed in large state-run industries that cut
their workforces in order to survive (ibid.). However, a report by
the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe states that as
non-citizens, Russian-Estonians face legitimate anxieties
concerning their ability to collect pensions, participate in state
privatization schemes, and buy and sell property (Sept. 1992,
1).
More recent media reports indicate that
economic reforms initiated in the early post-independence period
began to pay off after early 1993, when Estonia entered a period of
strong economic growth (Financial Times 19 Apr. 1994,
27-30). According to an article in Time magazine, however,
reforms that allowed an economic "renaissance" to occur in Tallinn
and other cities in southern and central Estonia, have yet to take
root in Narva, where the local economy is dominated by state-owned
defence and textile factories (11 Apr. 1994, 32).
A correspondent at the Financial
Times in London stated that local defence and textile
industries are currently operating at a fraction of their capacity,
and that although a thriving underground trade in raw materials
exists, northeastern Estonia is the country's most economically
depressed region (5 May 1994). For additional information on the
current economic situation in Estonia, please refer to the attached
documents.
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe. September 1993. Human Rights and Democratization in
Estonia. Washington, DC: Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe.
. September 1992. Russians In
Estonia: Problems and Prospects. Washington, DC: Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (CSCE). February 1993. Report of the CSCE ODIHR
Mission on the Study of Estonian Legislation Invited by the
Republic of Estonia. Prague: CSCE.
Correspondent for the Financial
Times, London. 5 May 1994. Telephone interview.
The Europa World Yearbook 1993.
1993. Vol. 1. London: Europa Publications Ltd.
Financial Times [London]. 19
April 1994. "Financial Times Survey: Estonia."
Time [New York]. 11 April 1994.
Vol. 143, No. 14. Sally B. Donnelly. "Profit Motivation: How a
Small Baltic Republic Turned Itself Into the Region's Biggest
Economic Success Story."
Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe. September 1993. Human Rights and Democratization in
Estonia. Washington, DC: The Commission on Security and
Cooperation Europe, pp. 9-10.
. September 1992. Russians In
Estonia: Problems and Prospects. Washington, DC: Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe, pp. 1, 11-12.
Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (CSCE). February 1993. Report of the CSCE ODIHR
Mission on the Study of Estonian Legislation invited by the
Republic of Estonia. Prague: CSCE, pp. 16-18.
The Europa World Yearbook 1993.
1993. Vol. 1. London: Europa Publications Ltd., pp. 1038-39.
Financial Times [London]. 19
April 1994. Anthony Robinson. "Small is Beautiful," p. 27.
. "Reforms at a High Price," p. 27.
. "Privatization: The Pace is Beginning
to Quicken," p. 28.
. "Tough, Candid - Rich," p. 28.
. "Foreign Investment: The Inflow
Accelerates," p. 28.
. "Commercial Banking Profile:
Hansapank: Super Modern but Still Super Conservative," p. 28.
. "Crucial Political Conundrum," p.
29.
. "Foreign Trade: Shift in Direction
from East to West," p. 29
. Bruce Clark. "Light Industry Benefits
from Innovative Drive," p. 29.
. "An Acutely Sensitive Hot Spot," p.
30.
Time [New York]. 11 April 1994.
Vol. 143, No. 14. Sally B. Donnelly. "Profit Motivation: How a
Small Baltic Republic Turned Itself Into the Region's Biggest
Economic Success Story," p. 32.