The head of the Human Rights Council also believes that employers must prove the necessity of inviting migrants, and a child who does not know the Russian language cannot be admitted to school.
To address acute migration issues, a comprehensive approach is needed, according to Valery Fadeev, advisor to the president and chairman of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC). In his opinion, employers must demonstrate that they have not found local workers, children who do not speak Russian need to be prepared for school, and enclaves must be eradicated.
When asked which migration problems currently pose the greatest threat to Russia, Valery Fadeev replied that the most dangerous issue is the emergence of enclaves, which are already forming on Russian territory.
“They are not created intentionally; migrants tend to gravitate towards each other, prefer to live in certain areas, and those who are wealthier buy apartments there. The main problem is that the law ceases to function in enclaves, as we see in the examples of France and England. This issue can only be resolved through strict measures. For instance, one could impose quotas on the purchase of apartments in certain areas to prevent migrants from clustering based on nationality. However, this question requires discussion, and it is important not to violate human rights,” he said.
At the same time, he believes that the proposal to build towns for migrants near construction sites and warehouses where they work is incorrect. “Special towns are an Arab-style solution to the problem, and quite a harsh one. If you come to work in a country, you will live in a town. I am not sure that this is right. We need to move towards the adaptation and integration of migrants, not confine them to camps,” Fadeev said.
He also believes that in sports clubs, such as MMA, migrants “may be preparing for something bad.” “On one hand, who can prohibit people from engaging in sports? But on the other hand, why do labor migrants choose not table tennis or badminton, but rather martial arts? There is an obvious suspicion that these tens of thousands of people may be preparing for something very bad. If law enforcement has motivated concerns that the emergence of such clubs could lead to extremism, then appropriate measures should be taken,” Fadeev stated.
According to him, the same applies to mosques. “Dissatisfaction with mosques is not related to Muslims who have lived in Russia for centuries. It concerns situations where labor migrants demand their construction. There are cases where newcomers fall under the influence of radical preachers trained in other countries, who may preach in prayer houses for migrants,” said the president’s advisor.
He also drew attention to another problem. “In Russia, niqabs that completely cover women’s faces are allowed. Only the eyes remain uncovered. This is despite the fact that in some Central Asian countries, niqabs are now banned. I will discuss this issue with representatives of traditional Islam and regional authorities. But I will preliminarily state my position: I believe that niqabs should be banned in Russia,” said the head of the Human Rights Council.
A niqab is a women’s head covering that completely conceals the face, except for the eyes.
According to Valery Fadeev, a powerful corrupt system has been established in Russia’s migration sphere, and society sometimes sees specific cases from this system. “For example, it has ‘suddenly’ become clear that migrants are buying certificates for knowledge of the Russian language. Anyone who is even slightly interested in this issue will immediately understand how much money needs to be paid to obtain a certificate without knowing the Russian language at all,” he noted.
A similar situation, he said, has developed with citizenship. “The purchase of citizenship must be stopped! A migrant who comes to us wants to earn money and become our citizen, but faces a corrupt system. We ourselves demonstrate that one can disdain the country they have come to and push them towards crime,” Fadeev emphasized.
At the same time, he noted that there is no need to tighten the rules for obtaining Russian citizenship. “The rules are fine; we have quite strict rules for obtaining citizenship. They just need to be followed. Another matter is that Russian citizenship should not only grant rights but also impose obligations. We in the Human Rights Council proposed to organize the procedure so that obtaining a passport and registering with the military enlistment office occur at the same time, at the same table. And this procedure has already been launched,” said the presidential advisor.
He also touched on the topic of knowledge of the Russian language. “A person who goes to work in another country should know its language at least at a minimal level. This requirement applies in all European countries. It must certainly be fulfilled in Russia as well. And already at this stage, people wishing to come to our country will be filtered out,” noted the interlocutor of the publication.
In this context, Fadeev highlighted the pressing issue concerning the children of migrants. “The Human Rights Council has a very simple position: a child who does not know the Russian language cannot be admitted to school. They must first be taught the Russian language. It is wrong to place this responsibility on schools; special centers need to be created. If there are children in the class who do not speak Russian, this primarily violates their rights. They simply will not learn anything. Moreover, such a situation infringes on the rights of other children, who are hindered from learning, as well as the rights of teachers, who are burdened with additional work. As a result, chaos ensues. It is also not uncommon in migrant families for women not to know the Russian language, even in families that have already obtained citizenship. I believe this is unacceptable,” explained the head of the Human Rights Council.
On Employers and Migrants
Valery Fadeev noted that employers do not comply with the Labor Code. “Employers say that migrants work 10 hours a day, 60 hours a week, and Russians will not agree to this. But first and foremost, this indicates a violation of the Labor Code by the employer. A simple comparison of tax reporting and the salaries offered in the labor market reveals that some companies pay salaries in cash, without taxes.
Russians are rarely willing to accept such pay, while migrants are quite satisfied with it. Most foreign workers have formal medical insurance, and living conditions are unacceptable. All of this is wrong. If we think about the rights of migrants and demand their enforcement, this will already be a step towards normalizing the situation,” he believes. He also noted that it is necessary to create a registry of employers who declare a need for foreign labor.
“They must explain or prove to the responsible authorities why they cannot find workers in the domestic market,” Fadeev said. “I have not seen any studies on how much foreign labor we actually need, in which sectors and regions. Take construction, for example: how many migrants are needed there? No one knows, but they say a lot. At the same time, labor productivity in Russian housing construction is four times lower than in the USA. Maybe it would be better to increase labor productivity, at least twofold? Then we would need half as many workers. In addition, wages would rise, and there would be an opportunity to attract local residents. The configuration of the entire labor market could change.”
Mufti of Moscow: a ban on the niqab may cause hotspots of tension in society
Meanwhile, as RBC reported, the Mufti of Moscow, the chief imam of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque Ildar Alyautdinov, stated that a ban on the niqab could provoke outrage among Russian Muslims, creating new hotspots of tension in society. “These attempts will also appear as a clear act of violating the norms of secular law and the Constitution, which guarantees citizens of Russia the right to freely practice their religion, and thus to observe the tenets of their faith,” he emphasized.
According to Alyautdinov, the issue of wearing the niqab remains a topic of discussion. “But it is important to note that none of them has ever stated that this element of clothing is undesirable, let alone that it should be banned,” he stressed. The Mufti said that the Council of Ulema of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (DUM) of Russia is ready to discuss issues related to wearing the niqab with representatives of the authorities.
He stated that the organization “does not promote wearing the niqab in modern society and believes that in a secular state it would be more appropriate to adhere to generally accepted religious rules” and to choose clothing that, while meeting the basic requirements of Islam, “will not provoke negative attitudes from those around.”
However, Alyautdinov believes that “any encroachments on the right to wear the niqab will inevitably be regarded in Muslim countries as unfriendly actions and repression” against Islam. “Today, Russia is reaching a new level in strengthening relations with Eastern countries. It is hard to imagine that this will be possible if the niqab is banned in Russia,” he said.
