State leaders have been talking about the need for tough measures against illegal migrants for more than a year now. Moreover, in this area words, as a rule, do not diverge from deeds. The Federal Migration Service has already been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry and, wittingly or unwittingly, has acquired attributes of a security structure. The migration inspections created as an experiment in a number of regions have already been dubbed by the public as migration OMON. Now such units have already begun work in Tatarstan, Altai and Krasnodar territories, Moscow, Moscow and Sverdlovsk regions, and by the end of the year, as expected, they will appear in all regions of the country. True, as the head of the FMS, Colonel-General Alexander Chekalin, asserts, the duties of these units include only investigative work to identify so-called labor pimps. “A migration inspection is not an assault team that catches unhappy people on the markets who have come here to work and are often in cramped conditions,” he said. “It is not they who interest these units, but those, excuse the expression, fat cats who profit from the work of illegal migrants.”
But, judging by Vladimir Putin’s statement, the authorities would like to reinforce the FMS security officers with counterintelligence agents as well. Both the head of state and the leaders of the Interior Ministry continue to explain the need for repressive policy by both the large number of illegal migrants in the country (according to Interior Ministry estimates, up to 5 million foreigners may be in Russia without the necessary documents) and the high level of crime among newcomers. Colonel-General Chekalin recalled that foreigners commit about 35,000 crimes annually on Russian territory, and about 60% of thefts from cottages and dachas are committed by illegal workers recruited to build them. The president also believes that harm to the state is caused not only by the very fact of illegal migration, but also by its indirect consequences. “Migrants themselves often find themselves in a powerless position and need protection—both in their relations with employers and in connection with the arbitrariness of officials, which, in turn, becomes a breeding ground for offenses and worsens the crime situation in certain regions,” stressed Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, along with the force measures aimed against illegal migrants, the government is now preparing a number of indulgences for foreigners who comply with our migration legislation. In particular, the Interior Ministry intends to relieve law-abiding foreigners of the need to leave Russia each time to obtain an annual visa and a work permit. “An employer and a foreign citizen recruited to work can count on an extension of the work permit in Russia,” promised Alexander Chekalin. “In the future, it is possible to issue such work permits for three years at once.” True, this practice will mainly be applied to the so-called “key personnel”—top managers, programmers, machine adjusters, consultants.
The head of the FMS also promised not to be brutal in applying the ultimate measure for violators—deportation. He noted that “it is a radical measure, the thoughtless and unfounded use of which creates interstate tension.” Chekalin said that the deportation procedure is and will be applied only by court decision and in exceptional cases. Although he conceded that courts satisfy 80% of lawsuits filed by the FMS.
Moreover, the Russian authorities seem ready to offer foreigners open rules of the game by creating a legal field that should save visitors from arbitrariness on the part of officials and street policemen. Alexander Chekalin said that the Interior Ministry proposes to prepare and consolidate all migration legislation into a separate code. Currently, this area is regulated by 12 federal laws of direct effect and several dozen by-laws—mainly government decrees. “The Migration Code should acquire its logical foundation, its construction,” Chekalin believes.