First, Putin ordered the government to develop proposals to curb illegal migration to Russia by June 1. And second, the Ministry of Federation Affairs, National and Migration Policy, created last year, promised to soon complete work on a new concept of migration policy.
However, this concept can only be called new conditionally – the fact is that until now there has been no coherent migration policy in Russia at all. Despite the existence of a special migration service. The position of the Russian authorities regarding migration can be formulated as follows: the fewer migrants, the better. Therefore, obtaining refugee or forced migrant status was not easy – such status entailed certain material assistance from the state, and naturally little money was allocated for these purposes in the budget. Nevertheless, the state's unwillingness to tackle migration issues did not eliminate the problem as such. Most legal migrants tried to get by on their own, without turning to any migration services.
According to estimates by Minister of Federation Affairs, National Policy and Migration Alexander Blokhin, about 8 million people entered Russia officially in the last ten years. Of these, approximately 80 percent (6.5 million) resolved issues of citizenship and settlement on their own. And only one and a half million turned to migration services.
On the one hand, the state certainly saved money by providing assistance to only a small part of new Russian citizens. On the other hand, the state lost the ability to somehow regulate the process of resettling migrants across the vast Russian expanses.
As far as one can tell, the new concept of migration policy precisely envisages the creation of mechanisms for such regulation. Russian officials, led by the president, have acknowledged that migration is, on the whole, a good thing for Russia: after all, the demographic situation in the country leaves much to be desired: Russia's population is steadily declining (mortality exceeds birth rate). And the labor shortage could be compensated with the help of migrants, for example from neighboring CIS countries. The important thing, Blokhin believes, is to direct migration flows correctly – so that people go to those regions where this shortage is most acute today.
And it is intended to give migration flows a "correct direction" through material incentives. "A loan in Moscow is about 5-6 thousand rubles (it is clear that this money cannot solve the housing problem), at the same time, if a person expresses a desire to go to Primorye or other similar regions, then loans there reach 80-90 thousand rubles. There is a corresponding coefficient that stimulates people," says Alexander Blokhin.
He is supported by Minister of Labor and Social Development Alexander Pochinok. He believes that in "interesting" regions for Russia, loans to migrants should be up to 210 thousand rubles. At the same time, Pochinok is concerned that "some politicians in Western Europe" are beginning to "skim the cream from migration", and what is left is "thrown to Russia". Alexander Pochinok is confident that Russia also has a right to the "cream", because it too is already experiencing a need for qualified personnel.
However, as we have already said, the Russian government today also faces another task: not only to properly distribute legal migrants, but also to decide what to do with illegal migrants. And there are a sea of them. There are two reasons for this. First, Russia is seen by many residents of CIS countries and China as a place to earn money. And second, Russia has long become a transit corridor for smuggling illegal migrants into Europe.
Neither of these pleases the Russian authorities. Illegal migration, among other things, is also seen as a source of increased criminalization. It's still good if it comes down to begging and petty theft (as in the case of "guests" from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, who come to Russia in entire camps for "earnings" and roam from one region to another). It is much worse when migrants are used for transporting drugs and weapons (by the way, citizens of Tajikistan also specialize in this type of "activity").
But even if we set aside the "criminal aspect" of illegal migration, the problem does not disappear, because the so-called "labor migrants" (arriving in Russia in search of work), working illegally, naturally do not pay any taxes. More precisely, they do pay something – but not into the budget, but into the pockets of specific officials, who consequently turn a blind eye to the violations.
According to Russian media, besides citizens of the CIS, "illegals" from China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, North Korea, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Sri Lanka live and work in Russia. This list includes more than 60 countries. Among the CIS countries, Azerbaijan and Ukraine lead in the number of "illegals", and until recently, Georgia held the top spot. The first place among suppliers of illegal migrants from the "far abroad" is naturally occupied by China – according to expert estimates, the number of illegal Chinese "community" may increase to 8-10 million people by 2010.
In the fight against illegal migration, Russia counts on the help of international organizations. And there are grounds for such hope: we repeat, many migrants consider Russia only as a "transit base" on the way to "civilized Europe". According to Alexander Blokhin, it is planned to create a unified information system in Russia that will allow controlling illegal migration. Such a system, the minister believes, should cover all regions of the country, as a result of which the ministry could "control any person upon entry and exit from the country".
However, it seems that for now these plans are not destined to come true in full. After all, today's Russian borders with many neighbors in the CIS are very conditional. And crossing from one state to another without control is not particularly difficult.