October 09, 2024

Duma: "Good Luck, Migrants!"


Duma: "Good Luck, Migrants!"
A stack of Russian passports. The Russian Life files

At a time when xenophobia and labor shortages are on the rise in Russia, Duma legislators have presented a new package of five anti-immigration laws. 

On September 29, Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin posted on Telegram, "We are returning to the conversation about improving migration policy." Yet, the issue of migration and xenophobia is not new in Russia.

According to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Fellow Temur Umarov, Russian society was becoming "increasingly accepting of newcomers." However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine halted that trend.

Xenophobia further spiked after the shooting that killed 145 people at Moscow's Crocus City Hall on March 24. Central Asians with ties to the Islamic State were behind the attack. Russia began to expel migrants en masse, detain them at borders, and threaten to send them to fight in Ukraine. Migrants from Central Asia were especially targeted.

On October 1, five bills were submitted to the Duma. The first measure required recognizing a migrant's illegal status as an aggravating circumstance in any criminal case. The second item proposes to classify the organization of illegal migration as a crime punishable by 15 years of imprisonment and millions of rubles in fines. 

Another added measure is the criminalization of the forgery of documents and fictitious registration with a penalty of up to R60 million ($627) and six years in prison. Individuals such as Tatyana Kotlyar, who allowed migrants to register themselves under her address to access benefits, are now criminally liable.

The legislative package also includes the extrajudicial blocking of websites selling counterfeit documents and a ban on intermediary organizations accepting exams from migrants. The Deputy Chairperson of the Duma's Migration Committee, Irina Yarovaya, also suggested testing newcomers for hepatitis B and C upon entry.

These are not the only restrictions imposed on migrants since 2024. More than ten regions have introduced restrictions on the work of foreigners in taxis, public transport, retail, and education, among other areas.

A "register of migrants" was also announced. A list of "controlled persons," which includes the names of illegal immigrants whose residency permits have expired, is expected to be made publicly available. 

Migrants are not the only ones facing persecution. The chairwoman of the migrant rights NGO "Civic Assistance," Svetlana Gannushkina, was also targeted in legislation. The telegram channel "Rybar," which is affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, accused 82-year-old Gannuskina of having connections with British intelligence. The next day, the FSB knocked on the organization's door while Gannuskina wasn't there. 

Organizations like Gannushkina's previously received grants from the government and worked together with officials. Umarov told Mediazona, "The same activity that was encouraged (...) is now criminal. Literally, three years ago they could [help migrants], but today it is no longer possible."

You Might Also Like

Forced to Be Sorry
  • September 24, 2024

Forced to Be Sorry

In 2024, Russians publish public video apologies every two days.
Deportations Double
  • June 03, 2024

Deportations Double

The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported dramatic increases in deportations and entry refusals. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955