Over 4.3 million illegal migrants live and work in Russia, according to Anatoly Fomenko, deputy head of the Russian Federal Migration Service. Over 13.5 million foreigners have visited Russia since the start of the year. There are 11.8 million foreigners in Russia today, RIA Novosti reports.
Over 8 million foreigners use the visa-free regime to enter the country. Over 4.3 million foreigners from CIS countries have violated the permit to stay 90 days. Most of them are young people who have poor knowledge of the language and who have not integrated into Russian society.
Fomenko emphasized that foreign labour migrants were one of the most complicated problems, because Russia needs workers but high migration to Russia has had a negative impact on the employment structure and created an imbalance in the social sector, causing conflicts, including ethnic ones.
