Russians want to hear native Russian speech from migrants
The bill's developers, First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin and Senator from Chuvashia Vladimir Slutsker, propose to supplement the law on foreigners, adopted in 2002, with the following provision: "A temporary residence permit is issued to a foreign citizen provided that he submits a document confirming his level of Russian language proficiency." Moreover, labor migrants who present a state-issued certificate of knowledge of the "great and mighty" language are proposed to be issued a work permit for a period of two years (instead of one year as currently).
Such a certificate, according to the authors of the amendments, should be issued by educational institutions operating in Russia or abroad that are "authorized to conduct state testing of foreign citizens in Russian as a foreign language." The form of the document and the procedure for its issuance must be approved by the federal body of the Ministry of Education and Science. The profile ministry, along with another interested agency – the Federal Migration Service – "had a hand" in drafting the amendments.
As Alexander Torshin explained to "Vremya Novostei," the bill on teaching migrants Russian is aimed primarily at preventing interethnic enmity between the indigenous population and newcomers. "According to the UN Commission on Population and Development, Russia ranks second in the world in the number of migrants from other countries," notes the explanatory note attached to the document. "In 2008, according to the Border Service of the FSB of Russia, more than 23 million foreign citizens entered Russia. 9.2 million people were registered for migration; more than 5 million foreigners, according to FMS estimates, are in the Russian Federation illegally." At the same time, Alexander Torshin emphasizes, sociological data indicate that two-thirds of Russians are hostile to foreigners. And more than half feel antipathy precisely because migrants do not speak Russian. "The inability to speak Russian not only irritates the indigenous population but also isolates newcomers," the senator remarks. "Ignorance of the language and forced silence generates a dangerous and vengeful alienation of migrants from the culture of the host country. This, in turn, forces society to defend itself from migrants. Thus, conditions are created for conflicts on ethnic grounds." Interethnic conflicts become especially dangerous now, when due to the economic crisis society is in a "heated state." "New Kondopogas are unacceptable," emphasizes Alexander Torshin.
According to the senator, all conditions for implementing the project to eliminate linguistic illiteracy in Russia already exist. Since 2007, a state testing system has been in place, modeled after TOEFL – an international standard for certifying English language proficiency. Special centers have been created in more than 160 universities in the country where such testing is conducted. "Implementation of the bill does not require additional budget funds," explains Alexander Torshin the legislators' intention. "The entire financial burden for training and testing migrants falls on employers and the migrants themselves."
Moreover, the First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council emphasizes, taking the exam is purely voluntary. Incentives should be benefits, not only for the worker but also for the employer – it is assumed that companies will be provided with a preferential regime when obtaining permissions from the FMS and the Ministry of Health and Social Development to hire foreign workers.
Different is the case of foreigners who have come for permanent residence and in the future hope to obtain Russian citizenship. For them, passing the test on knowledge of the state language should become a mandatory condition for naturalization in Russia. Currently, as Alexander Torshin recalled, a certificate of Russian language proficiency is required only directly when obtaining citizenship, but at intermediate stages of naturalization – when obtaining a residence permit (for five years) and a temporary residence permit (for three years) – it is not mandatory. Now the members of the Federation Council propose to introduce exams also at the aforementioned intermediate stages.
According to the head of the migrant assistance committee "Civil Assistance," Svetlana Gannushkina, the measures proposed by the senators are "nothing more than good wishes." "I can predict with a fairly high degree of probability that these amendments will not work," the head of the human rights organization told a correspondent of "Vremya Novostei." Svetlana Gannushkina believes that the main problem faced by migrant workers is by no means ignorance of the Russian language: "Labor migrants know the language to the extent that allows them to perform their work. In my practice, I have never encountered a situation where an employer complained that workers do not understand him."
The amendments to the law will not affect the situation of migrants, a significant number of whom not only have not concluded an employment contract but are also illegally on the territory of Russia, emphasizes the human rights activist. "In addition, there is again room for corruption – language certificates are easy to trade. People who cannot string two words together will be given a grade confirming their absolute command of the language, of course not for free," Svetlana Gannushkina is sure. The head of the "Civil Assistance" committee believes that the bill developed by the senators is "a move in the wrong direction."