Russian Government Again Reduces Quota for Guest Workers
According to calculations by the Ministry of Health and Social Development, in 2011 no more than 1 million 745 thousand work permits should be issued to foreign citizens. At the same time, almost a third of this quota is a reserve, which will be used only if regions request «above-norm» guest workers. In 2010, the limit including the reserve was 1 million 944 thousand permits.
As Tatyana Blinova, director of the Department of Employment and Labor Migration of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, reported, the latest quota reduction is explained primarily by the introduction of new mechanisms for attracting migrants and the expansion of categories of labor migrants to which these quotas do not apply.
Recall that a simplified version of obtaining work permits is now provided for guest workers hired by private individuals, as well as for highly qualified foreign specialists. For the former, a mechanism for obtaining a patent costing 1,000 rubles per month is already in place; for the latter, a permit will be issued upon invitation from the host company. So far, however, the number of patents issued is significantly less than the reduced quota. According to the Federal Migration Service, from July 1 to September 15, 57,000 patents were issued in Russia.
The government, apparently, does not intend to globally change the mechanism for attracting labor and controlling migration flows. «It is inexpedient to abolish quotas because they were created to protect Russian citizens from competition with foreigners. There is still a need for this,» said the press service of the Ministry of Health and Social Development to «Vremya Novostey».
In some regions, the directive to support domestic workers was taken extremely seriously. For example, Moscow officials recently submitted a record low quota request – in 2011, according to city hall calculations, Moscow will need only 180,000 labor migrants. In the previous crisis year, the city needed at least 250,000 guest workers.
However, such a sharp and obviously artificial reduction of quotas is not surprising given that one of the most ardent supporters of protectionist measures on the labor market is Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who during his recent speech at the General Council of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia noted that «migrants are the corruption of the economic system.»
According to Renat Karimov, chairman of the Union of Migrant Workers, under the visa-free regime with the main «suppliers» of labor migrants – Central Asian states, Ukraine and Moldova – the limit is an «extremely ineffective tool for protecting one's own workforce.» «Quotas do not protect anyone, since Russians will never apply for a janitor position. Moreover, quotas prevent migrants from legalizing in Russia and working for its economy,» Renat Karimov noted in an interview with a correspondent of «Vremya Novostey».
Renat Karimov is confident that strict quotas will increasingly criminalize the process of obtaining work permits. «I am told that already now, at the Moscow region offices of the FMS, migrants are offered to process documents for 23,000 rubles,» he said.
Vyacheslav KOZLOV.
