MOSCOW, February 21, Asia-Plus — 450,000 migrants have been officially registered in Russia since January 15, when new Russian migration legislation took effect, Vyacheslav Postavnin, deputy director of Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS), announced at a news conference in Moscow on February 19.
Of them, 132,000 migrants have been registered in Moscow alone, according to him. There are currently about 10 million illegal labor migrants in Russia, Postavnin said, adding that amendments made to the Russian migration law are not restrictive measures designed to worsen the situation of migrants – they are meant to protect rights of labor migrants.
Speaking to journalists, the Moscow Federal Migration Service director Fyodor Karpovetz noted that labor migration is one of necessary conditions of development of economy, “however, Russia should protect its market and population.”
Asked whether introduction of dual citizenship have helped resolve integration issues, Postavnin said that Russia had to date concluded agreements on dual citizenship with Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. “However, it is still premature to say that a circle of republics will be extended,” said the FMS official, “For this both sides should be interested. We do not yet see Russian interest.”
We will recall that Tajikistan seeks larger quota for migrants in Russia. Tajikistan’s labor ministry has dispatched a formal request to the Russian government seeking an increase in the number of work permits for Tajik nationals, and has requested that Russia allow some 200,000 additional Tajik laborers beyond the current limit of 600,000 Tajik nationals allowed to work in Russia each year.
