The State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) yesterday approved in the first reading two bills that significantly tighten migration policy.
As announced at the meeting by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, these bills are aimed at “further improving migration policy.”
One of them, according to him, prohibits foreigners with an outstanding or unexpunged criminal record “for committing any crime on the territory of Russia or beyond” from acquiring Russian citizenship, a residence permit, or a temporary residence permit, regardless of the severity of the crime.
“Also in such a case, it is proposed to annul the previously issued temporary residence permit or residence permit,” Volodin added.
The second bill concerns “doubling – from 22 articles of the Administrative Code to 43 – the list of administrative offenses for which foreign citizens will be subject to expulsion.”
The list of new grounds for expulsion includes articles related to political activity and expression of position, Fergana writes.
Specifically, this refers to the “discrediting” of the Russian army, calls for the imposition or maintenance of sanctions against Russia, demonstration of Nazi or extremist symbols, dissemination of extremist materials, as well as abuse of media freedom.
In addition, grounds for deportation may include participation in unauthorized rallies, violation of the state of emergency or martial law, creating obstacles to transport infrastructure, and minor hooliganism associated with disobedience to the police. For 20 new articles, mandatory expulsion is proposed without the possibility of considering the violator’s personal circumstances, Kommersant noted.
The authors of the initiative explain the need for tightening by the increase in the number of offenses among foreign citizens. According to the State Duma speaker, about 72,000 migrants were expelled from Russia last year..
