Russia wants to attract legal migrants

The state has already scooped up more than one million roubles, while selling duties being charged on permits to foreign workers all over Russia this year. This was disclosed here today by Russia's Nationalities Policy Minister Vladimir Zorin.

In his words, the number of foreign workers on Russian territory will soar by 100 percent, totalling some 700,000 people. Specific work-permit duties, which are being channelled into territorial budgets, will be partially used to tackle socio-economic problems of migrants, Zorin stressed. Local employers had filed 1,680 foreign-worker requests over the entire 2002 period. However, more than 8,000 such requests were filed this year, Zorin noted.

The number of foreign workers hasn't increased. On the contrary, this country is receiving fewer illegal migrants than before. Legal migration continues to assert itself, thus making it possible to defend the interests of migrants and employers alike. The state also gets substantial revenues, Zorin stressed in conclusion.