Diasporic leaders call for reform of Russian immigration legislation

The ethnic policy of the Moscow authorities and ways of preventing ethnic conflicts in the Russian capital were discussed today by the member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress Rustam Arifdzhanov, the chairman of the All-Russian Public Movement "Tajik migrant workers" Karomat Sharipov and the president and chairman of the Central Council of the All-Russian public organization All-Russian Congress of Uzbeks, Ibrahim Khudayberdiev.

The correspondent of "Vestnik Kavkaza" reports that it was stressed by the participants of the meeting that the introduction of a visa regime for the countries of the former Soviet Union will only alienate Russia from these countries. It has also been highlighted that the country needs political will in order to solve issues related to migration. The participants noted that such integration structures as the Customs Union and the Eurasian Union, through which the borders of Russia will become more open to its neighbors, do not pose any threats and that there is a need for migrant workers in the economy of Russia. Nevertheless, they have to return to their countries of origins.

Arifdzhanov, Sharipov and Khudayberdiev called for reform of migrant labor laws, but urged not to introduce any radical changes.

"Migrants go where they get paid, but conditions for their stay must be created - in Sochi, in the North Caucasus as well as in other cities of Russia," the participants in the conference said.

"There is no need to introduce labor visas, another issue is that getting a work permit is criminalized - that is something we should fight against," Arifdzhanov said.

Also the participants of the press conference proposed reinstating the Ministry for Nationalities, which existed in Soviet times.