Head of Russian FMS sees no need for immigration amnesty

Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS), sees no need for immigration amnesty, as the Service started a sort of amnesty, introducing work permits for foreigners. “It goes without saying that immigration should first of all deal with economic matters, which is reflected in the concept of the immigration policy. Nevertheless, we have started sort of amnesty back in 2010, introducing work permits for natural persons. Over 3 million people thus came out of ‘the shadow’, being legally employed. Incidentally, work permits brought nearly 16 billion rubles to the budget,” the FMS press service quotes Romodanovsky as saying. “I can only say there should be no amnesty for those who aimlessly walk the streets and break our rules. What is more, we will bar entry of such people to Russia under new laws. As many as 215,000 have been denied the entry of Russia since January 2013, and we intend to continue the trend,” Romodanovsky said. The idea of the immigration amnesty prompted objections of Irina Yarovaya, member of the United Russia Party, head of the State Duma Security and Anti-Corruption Committee. Earlier on Tuesday, Boris Titov, the ombudsman for entrepreneurs’ rights, in his blog on the website of radio Echo of Moscow suggested an “immigration amnesty”, that is a massive legalization of immigrants. He believes in case there is a guarantee that illegal immigrants will not face expulsion and the labour market is simultaneously legalized, the millions of immigrants will become legal and will be contributing to Russia’s budget. “Such statements, to my mind, are very dangerous,” Yarovaya holds. “By this logic, it is more advantageous to break a law than to observe it. Employers who observe rules when hiring foreign citizens will be at a disadvantage to those who used (and will be using) illegal labour,” she believes.