“There will be a lack of jobs in the North Caucasus for next 50 years at least”

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Illegal migrants may be forced to work for free. The corresponding bill was presented to the State Duma by an MP from the Just Russia party, Oleg Nilov,  Interfax reports. Nilov says that deportation of illegal migrants costs budget money, and complulsory labor could be considered a compensation of the expenses.

Meanwhile, according to the deputy director of the Department of Labor and Employment of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Russia Georgy Godenko, “in Soviet times labor migration was limited by 4-4.5 million people annually. Then, it decreased because the Soviet Union united republics which are independent now and where migrants come to Russia from. Today the conditions are different. Previously labor migrants came to us to “constructions of the century” – the BAM, development of the North; now main flows are streaming to places where salary is higher. The center of attraction is Moscow, the Moscow Region, St.-Petersburg, and the Leningrad Region, as well as other major regional centers – Yekaterinburg, Khanty-Mansiisk, Urengoi, i.e. places where one can earn money, where there is no lack for jobs with normal salary.”

Speaking about the absence of rights of migrants, Godenko reminded that “no contracts are signed with them. It is easier to dump a person who hasn’t signed a contract. If labor relations are legal, a contract will be signed and an employer will form a certain share in his account for this foreigner in the Pension Fund. If the foreigner becomes a citizen of Russia, he will get the money. Or if there is a bilateral agreement with his country, the money formed in his pension account will be transferred to his country, and he will have an opportunity to live for it in the future.

In every constituent of Russia foreign citizens earns by 30% less than Russian citizens in one and the same specialty. An employer doesn’t pay taxes, insurance fees for illegal migrants. How can it be done for an employer wouldn’t benefit from hiring an employee without contract relationships? Labor migrants are not only foreign citizens, but also Russian citizens. It is not profitable to hire a Russian labor migrant as well, officially register him and so on. It leads to expenses.”

The deputy chairman of the Public Chamber Commission on International Affairs and Freedom of Conscience Aslambek Paskachev told Vestnik Kavkaza that “there are from 10 to 11 legal migrants in our country. As for illegal migrants, according to various data, there are from 3 to 10 million of them, but nobody can state an exact number. So, there are some issues. First of all, how can the system we put in order and migrants become legal? Secondly, how can normal working conditions be provided for them? The decision should be complex. Probably we should start with amnesty of all illegal migrants to make them legal, while labor migrant contracts should be registered in the revenue service. In this case we will get a lot of additional resources for the budget. For prevention of penetration of criminals to our country, cooperation with law-enforcement agencies of the countries where migrants come from should be established. It will elicit their criminal past. We should know who come to us, for what, and with what skills. At the same time, we should be ready to welcome migrants of certain professions. In major cities our citizens often refuse from jobs which are attractive to migrants.”

Commenting on the problem of internal migration, Paskachev stated: “It should be settled by the regions where migrants come from and the regions where they strive for. Of course the balance of labor resources which will be established will enable us to do it. We will develop these questions together with interested federal and regional ministries and departments. We will try to avoid thoughtless and radical decisions.”

According to Paskachev, migration from the Caucasus “has always been, it exists, and it will always be. This is a labor excessive region of Russia. Russians, not Russians, natives, not natives leave the region because the economic ties of the Soviet period have been ruined. A lot of enterprises were shut down, while new jobs appear insignificantly. There will be a lack of jobs in the North Caucasus for next 50 years at least. At the same time we have a lack of workers in other regions of Russia.”