Unexpectedly, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin supported the presence of migrants in the capital. The Moscow mayor answered pressing questions in a live broadcast on television channels and noted that the number of labor migrants in the capital has remained at the same level in recent years. According to him, since 2018, the number of labor […]
Unexpectedly, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin supported the presence of migrants in the capital.
The Moscow mayor answered pressing questions in a live broadcast on television channels and noted that the number of labor migrants in the capital has remained at the same level in recent years.
According to him, since 2018, the number of labor migrants has not changed at all; it has remained the same.
In response to the dissatisfaction of some regarding the influx of low-skilled migrants who do not speak the language, he suggested that those with higher education, including doctoral degrees, take a broom and go out to sweep the streets of Moscow themselves.
“It turns out that we need to attract migrants with higher education to fill high-skilled positions of Muscovites. And Muscovites will go sweep the streets, right? I don’t quite understand the logic. Thank God there are migrants who take on this hard work,” Sobyanin stated.
Moreover, according to Sobyanin, since 2010, the number of serious crimes among migrants has decreased significantly. He noted that serious crimes, such as murders, robberies, and thefts, have decreased dramatically. According to him, robberies have decreased by seven and a half times, while murders have halved.
The mayor also stated that there is a shortage of 500,000 workers in Moscow.
“Currently, there is a shortage of specialists in Moscow of about half a million. When asked to specify which sectors are lacking personnel, I can tell you right away, all sectors are lacking staff without exception. This is the demographic situation,” he stated.
The Moscow mayor is defending labor migrants against the backdrop of rising anti-migrant rhetoric in Russia. Russian nationalists, politicians, and State Duma deputies often attempt to restrict their work and reduce their numbers by enacting increasingly strict laws.
Some deputies even propose introducing a visa regime with Central Asian countries, from which a large portion of the migrants performing hard labor in Russia come.