THEO VAN GOGH MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10409
Russia Is No Better Than The West In Handling The Flow Of Illegal Work Migrants
9-1-23 – Some problems are universal, but it is still surprising to find that an authoritarian state such as Russia is as helpless as the US and EU, when it comes to controlling the flow of illegal work migrants. A report by Yevgeny Fedorov in Voennoe Obozrenie (Military Review) sheds light on the illegal foreign workers flooding Russia.
The foreign workers from Central Asia help propel the flow of drugs from Afghanistan to Russia. The Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev when disclosing the nature and dimensions of the problem complained that his ministry was taking all the blame while other ministries, who benefited from cheap illegal labor, were not pulling their weight. Some even argued that with the conscription of Russians to fight in Ukraine, more labor migrants were needed.
Fedorov’s article titled “Migrants Expand Russia’s Drug Market” follows below:
Who is to blame?
[Russian] Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev announced alarming figures at the last Anti-Drug Committee: up to 80% of criminal offences committed by migrants involve drug trafficking. In addition to the stock phrases about the need to strengthen and tighten supervision, Kolokoltsev made a very fair point:
“Despite the fact that 16 agencies in our country are the beneficiaries of migrant labor, society demands answers only from the Ministry of Interior in this regard. Our department has already made all relevant instructions to the territorial bodies ‘in the field.’ I ask the representatives of other agencies and employers to pay attention to this issue.”
Vladimir Kokoltsev, the Minister of Interior (Source: Kommersant.ru)
He is absolutely right, as drug trafficking is a multi-headed hydra, and this “disease” must be tackled comprehensively. If the builders, as they claim, cannot do without foreign labor and import hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Central Asia, it’s, probably, wrong to dump the blame for all the consequences solely on the Interior Ministry and the FSB, especially in the light of the special military operation [the SVO], which requires additional exertion on their part.
If you look at the figures, then it’s not surprising that drug trade flourishes amongst migrant workers. Well, not just “flourishes,” it’s gaining momentum. Between 3 and 5 million foreign nationals enter Russia every year, who, subsequently, work illegally.
The aforementioned is the official data, in reality, the number of illegal immigrants can be easily multiplied by two. They are primarily immigrants from Central Asia: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Every migrant worker, who is not officially employed poses several threats to Russia.