In the past year, the FMS of Russia worked within the framework of the new migration legislation, and the other day the agency's employees decided to report on the work done from January to December of the past year. In 2007, the FMS office conducted more than 25,000 inspections in Moscow, resulting in 260,000 foreign citizens being brought to administrative responsibility. 'All of them had to pay fines. We mainly impose penalties for failure to register for migration and for lack of a work permit,' explained press secretary of the capital's migration service, Zalina Filimonova.
According to Zalina Filimonova, in 2007, about 1 million 700 thousand foreign citizens were registered for migration in Moscow. Of these, only 648,517 people obtained official work permits in the capital. The capital's FMS knows little about the occupations of another million migrants. 'Not all foreigners come to Moscow to work — some come to relatives, and there are also tourists. And unfortunately, not all people want to honestly obtain a work permit,' says Zalina Filimonova.
Human rights activists have a different opinion. Svetlana Gannushkina, chairwoman of the Civil Assistance Committee, told Novye Izvestia that employers themselves prevent migrants from obtaining official work permits, as they 'are interested in people working illegally.' Such an employer, according to Svetlana Gannushkina, can at any moment call the police and, without paying, throw their workers out of Moscow. 'The other day, guys from Georgia approached us, who were deceived by an employer in exactly this way — they worked without a contract, and their passports were taken away. On December 29, people were expecting their earned wages and were planning to go home for the New Year. But instead, on December 28, the police came, took everyone away, and took them to court,' cites an example Svetlana Gannushkina. The court, in her words, 'without checks and without going into details,' decided to expel these people, and 'the employer was not even punished.'
In total, in 2007, the FMS expelled 7,559 people from the capital by court decision. Human rights activists believe that 'two-thirds of expulsion cases were declared illegal by higher courts.' 'There were cases when Russian citizens were expelled from Moscow, which is absolutely impossible under the law!' Svetlana Gannushkina indignantly says. The human rights activist claims that FMS employees systematically violate people's rights — those being expelled are not allowed to be present in court, are not provided with a lawyer, and are even deprived of the right to file a petition. 'In most cases, they expel people who want to work. Including compatriots who simply have nowhere to go,' concluded Svetlana Gannushkina.
Kira Vasilyeva.
Novye Izvestia