Russian media reports say President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that immigrants who come to work and live in Russia must comply with its laws and respect its customs and traditions, including learning the language.
Putin reportedly addressed the issue at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, traditionally held in early December.
“We need to attract such labor resources that meet the interests of the Russian economy,” said the Russian president. “This means that [these] people must be prepared from a linguistic, ethno-cultural point of view. They must know our traditions and so on.”
The interest of Russia and its citizens “must be put first,” the president insisted. All immigrants and visitors also “must comply with Russian laws,” Putin clarified. “And, of course, we, as a civilized country, must also ensure their rights.”
Russia is opening schools in several countries of the former Soviet Union – part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to assist with Russian language instruction and cultural events, the president informed the council.
Moscow has withdrawn from several international human rights organizations because they have become “virtually controlled” by the West, demonstrating “political bias, hypocrisy, and open selectivity,” Putin said in his opening remarks.
Moscow is fully committed to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is “ready to cooperate with all interested countries and partners to find solutions to form an effective, fair, equal system for ensuring human rights for all,” Putin concluded.
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.
