According to the UN Secretary-General, Russia has been at the center of various migration flows since the early 1990s. At the same time, the outflow from Russia of "ethnic groups whose homeland is abroad was more than compensated by the inflow of 3.7 million people who moved to the Russian Federation during 1992-1998 from other CIS member states and Baltic states," the report says. In subsequent years, Russia experienced a migration explosion. "More and more temporary labor migrants began arriving in the Russian Federation," Kofi Annan noted. Among the main sources of foreign labor for Russia, in addition to the CIS countries, he named China, Turkey, and Vietnam.
The UN Secretary-General sees the main reason for Russia's migration attractiveness not in the fact that Russia historically found itself at the crossroads of migration flows, but in the fact that the country's leadership is conducting "correct and adequate work in this direction." In his opinion, only such states as Canada, Australia, and the Czech Republic can compete with Russia in this matter. "These four developed countries actively encourage migration in order to increase the number of migrants arriving in them to meet their national needs," Kofi Annan reported.
The UN's assessment of the situation with migrants in Russia looks somewhat strange against the background of how this situation is treated in Russia itself. At the same time, Russian citizens and authorities draw contradictory conclusions from the same facts.
For example, in the United States, a majority of residents (56%) are in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to obtain temporary legal status. At the same time, 51% of respondents believe that migrants bring benefits, and two-thirds of those surveyed are confident that illegal migrants do jobs that US residents themselves refuse. Congress is currently debating the legalization of illegal immigrants, as well as expanding the program to attract foreign workers, with the number of invitations planned to increase to 400,000 per year.
However, according to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), the majority of Russians (69%) have a negative attitude towards the arrival of a large number of migrants in Russia, and only 21% of respondents view this phenomenon positively. Among the priorities of migration policy, respondents are ready to support, first of all, countering illegal migration (38%) and the fight against ethnic criminal groups (31%).
A quarter of respondents are in favor of resettlement to Russia of Russian-speaking citizens from former USSR countries. Almost the same number of those surveyed (23%) consider the creation of favorable conditions for interaction between migrants and the indigenous population as priority measures. However, such areas as increasing Russia's migration attractiveness (for which the UN praises the Russian authorities), as well as simplifying the employment procedure for foreign citizens (which is currently being discussed in the State Duma), do not find understanding among Russians – they were supported by only 5% of respondents each.
According to polls by the Levada Center, 59% of Russians consider it necessary to legislatively limit the influx of labor migrants, and only 22% propose not to erect administrative barriers in the way of guest workers. Russians have the worst attitude towards migrants from the Caucasus (50% of respondents stated their negative attitude). In second place in the "anti-rating" are the Chinese (46%), followed by Vietnamese (42%), immigrants from Central Asia (31%), and Gypsies (30%).
According to the head of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, Konstantin Romodanovsky, voiced recently in the Duma, the number of legal migrants in Russia does not exceed 700,000 people. At the same time, legal labor migration does not exceed 15% of the actual number of working migrants. That is, only every sixth or seventh foreigner works in Russia legally. According to Romodanovsky, more than 5.5 million Russian citizens are unemployed, and this is partly a consequence of the influx of illegal migrants who agree to work on worse conditions than Russians.
At the same time, Russia's losses due to non-payment of taxes by labor migrants amount to 200 billion rubles a year. At the same time, the amount of financial transfers from Russia by citizens of Georgia amounts to 20% of that country's GDP, and by citizens of Moldova – 30%. In 2005, 370 criminal cases were opened against employers for the illegal recruitment of labor.
Unlike the UN, the Russian Interior Ministry also believes that the migration situation in the Russian Federation remains extremely unfavorable. As reported by Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin, over the past ten years the number of crimes committed by foreign citizens has increased 2.5 times, with 90% of offenders being "guests" from the CIS. Migrants arriving in Russia create criminal communities based on ethnicity and actively try to infiltrate state administration structures, especially in places of compact residence. The Interior Ministry sees the solution to the problem in bringing illegal migrants "out of the shadows" and in developing measures to attract "good" migrants to Russia – compatriots from the CIS and Baltic states. In particular, it is proposed to simplify the procedure for migration registration, as well as the issuance of residence and work permits in Russia.
However, experts are skeptical about the prospects of "good" migration. "Good migrants will still not be tempted by the vacancies that we can offer foreign citizens today," said Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the Center for Political Technologies. He believes that "the liberalization of migration legislation is not an absolute good and not a panacea for all ills, but a forced measure, the use of which will not necessarily lead to the desired result."
Let us recall that the Russian State Duma in mid-March passed in the first reading a draft law "On Migration Registration of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons in the Russian Federation," introduced by a group of United Russia deputies. The main innovation of the draft law is the transition from a permit-based procedure for registering foreigners to a notification-based one. The concepts of "official place of residence" and "place of stay" of a foreign citizen, "registration at the official place of residence" and "registration at the place of stay" are introduced. The powers of migration control bodies, the grounds and procedure for registration and keeping records of foreign citizens are defined. The creation of an information and migration data bank is envisaged, the procedure for protection, use and replenishment of which is assigned to the jurisdiction of the Government of the Russian Federation.
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov at a parliamentary session devoted to migration problems stated that Russia's migration policy should focus on the resettlement of compatriots and the attraction of labor resources from CIS and Baltic countries. "Over the past year, Russia's population decreased by 735 thousand people, and thanks to international migration, almost 13% of our demographic losses were compensated," emphasized Gryzlov.
However, many deputies said that in working with migrants, lawmakers show a lack of understanding of the situation developing in the country. Deputy Alexander Krutov (Rodina) stated that migration quotas are being tightened all over the world, and only Russia "is following a special path." "Will mass immigration not create an effective instrument for displacing the indigenous population in a country with a dying population?" the deputy asked. In turn, independent deputy Nikolai Gonchar believes that when refining the draft law, it is necessary to introduce a quota system for migrants from countries of the near abroad and provide a mechanism to track "whether they work honestly in our country or are engaged in drug trafficking."
As an example of criticism of the draft law, France is cited, which before the autumn riots committed by French of Arab and African origin also prided itself on its migration attractiveness. Most labor migrants soon brought their entire family to the country and lived on benefits, without worrying about finding work. After the mass riots, France decided to tighten its migration legislation.
In Germany, which is also known for its loyal attitude toward migrants, they now want to introduce exams for those wishing to obtain German citizenship. The reason is the same as in France – the number of migrants and their desire to "enter a foreign monastery with their own charter" alarms the country's indigenous residents.
In Russia, migration policy is largely determined not by "proper and adequate work," as the UN Secretary General believes, but by the state's elementary unwillingness to spend money on creating an adequate system of border and migration control. The practically open southern borders, the visa-free regime with most CIS countries, Russia's relative economic well-being against the backdrop of the poverty surrounding it – these are all the secrets of why Russia has become one of the migration leaders. However, this leadership is first and foremost based on massive violations of Russian laws.
Having realized the scale of the problem of illegal immigration, the Russian authorities, it seems, decided to choose the easiest path. "Currently, there are more than 10 million illegal migrants in Russia. You can calculate for yourself how much the procedure for their expulsion will cost Russia," says the head of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) Konstantin Romodanovsky, reminding that the cost of deporting one illegal migrant is about a thousand dollars, and this amount does not include the cost of paying for the work of law enforcement officers and judges. According to him, it is easier for the FMS to control legal migration than illegal migration. The draft laws currently being discussed in the Duma are intended, in the opinion of their developers, to turn today's "illegals" into tomorrow's "law-abiding taxpayers."
But, as the same French experience stubbornly testifies, issuing migrants documents for the right to stay and work in the country, and even granting them and their children full citizenship, by no means solves the many acute problems that migration creates.