The key facts

  • The State Duma rejected six bills tightening migration rules; four more failed to win support from the government and the Federation Council committees
  • Three of the rejected bills were introduced by the A Just Russia faction: abolishing patents, giving regions powers over migration registration, and shortening visa-free stay from 90 to 30 days
  • Sergey Mironov attributed the failure of the key bill to the absence of 398 deputies from the vote and promised to reintroduce it

The rejected initiatives

The State Duma has rejected six bills tightening the rules for foreigners' stay in Russia and their employment. Four more initiatives — on migration registration, foreigners' labor activity, and the entry of minors — failed to receive support from the government and the committees of the Federation Council. This was reported by Gazeta.Ru citing the leader of A Just Russia, Sergey Mironov.

What exactly failed

According to Mironov, three of the six bills rejected by the Duma were introduced by the A Just Russia faction. They concern abolishing patents for migrants and switching to organized recruitment of labor, granting regions additional powers over migration registration, and shortening the visa-free stay period from 90 to 30 days. In addition, the Duma had earlier rejected a similar initiative by the faction to restrict foreigners' access to certain types of work and to require migrants to arrive in the country with a compulsory medical insurance policy. Mironov called the Duma's decision «a serious blow to A Just Russia's principled position on the migration issue».

Reasons for the failure and the party's plans

The key bill abolishing patents, Mironov claimed, was rejected because 398 parliamentarians did not take part in the vote — all the deputies from United Russia and the KPRF. He also pointed out that the introduction of organized recruitment and the right of regions to restrict migration are enshrined in the Migration Policy Concept signed by the president, and he proposed that his Duma colleagues present their own versions of bills, which the faction is ready to support. Mironov stated that the party will reintroduce the rejected laws as having «fundamental importance» for its voters. Earlier, the State Duma had already proposed to ban migrants from working in certain sectors.