New amendments made to Russia’s legislation are aimed against dishonest employers, Deputy Minister of Labor, Migration and Employment of the Population, Ms. Shahnoza Nodiri told Asia-Plus in an interview, commenting on a new procedure requiring migrants working in Russia to notify the interior ministry of their place of work.
“This procedure has been launched not for tougher tracking illegally working migrants but for controlling activities of Russian employers and protecting rights of labor migrants,” Ms. Nodiri said.
According to her, these amendments have been made to prevent, first of all, illegal activities of dishonest employers.
“The thing is that not all employers in Russia notify of the start of work of foreigners and not all of them employ labor migrants officially,” the deputy minister said.
The Russian Interior Ministry’s official website says that in order to fight this and better control places of work of foreigners, foreigners working in Russia on a patent are obligated to send to the interior ministry not only a copy of their contract with an employer within two months from the date of issue of the patent, but also fill out and send a notice of place of work, to which a copy of such a contract, if any, is attached.
Labor migrants are still a critical component in the economy of Tajikistan, keeping many struggling families at home above the poverty line.
According to data from the Russian Interior Ministry, driven by a lack of economic opportunities in Tajikistan, more than 1 million Tajiks travel to Russia for work each year.
Meanwhile, some sources note that the worsening state of the Russian economy and sustained abuse from law enforcement there is pushing ever more expatriate laborers from Tajikistan to seek out alternative countries in which to find work.
