The Migration 21st Century Foundation of Russia is preparing a bill on amnesty of migrants. A document will be presented in half a year, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held a session of the Security Council to discuss migration policy. Illegal labour migrants are one of the main problems in the country. The Federal Migration Service says that about 5 million foreigners work in Russia illegally. Independent experts double the figure.
Natalia Vlasova, Vice President of the Migration 21st Century Foundation, said that over 25 amnesties have been held in 1980-2005. 6 million foreign workers were legalized. The amnesty for 2005-2006 was not prepared. The quota for foreign labour was increased to over 2.2 million in 2007.
Natalia Hofmann, a spokeswoman of the International Labour Organization in Moscow, said that the FMS and the Healthcare Ministry are ready to discuss the problem.
The fine per every illegal worker is 800,000 rubles, an enormous sum, as experts say.
Hofmann said that additional measures are needed after the amnesty. They include more vigilance of the police and border guards, improvement of labour market control, integration policy and cooperation with states where migrants come from.
Leonid Gusev, a scientist of the Institute for International Studies of MGIMO, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the idea is bad, because it may cause major repercussions. It could cause nationalistic clashes. The situation in Russia is already tense. 82% of people at the show where the initiative was announced voted against the idea of Vyacheslav Postavnin, President of the Migration 21st Century Foundation. The situation with migrants in Europe is complicated, the situation in Russia may be even worse. Gusev proposed studies of every individual case to prevent cases, such as the one when a Russian woman was sent back to Uzbekistan without giving her a chance for citizenship.
