Kolokoltsev: Regions are not ready to deport illegal migrants, their number is growing

Since the beginning of this year, the number of illegal migrants in Russia has increased by 40%, but the regions are in no hurry to deport violators. This was announced today, October 30, by Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev at a meeting of the Ministry's board dedicated to the organization of work in the field of migration.

He stressed that the situation causes acute discussions in society. As of October 1, there were more than 6.5 million foreigners in the Russian Federation, of which over 740 thousand did not have legal grounds to stay in the Russian Federation. This year, dozens of conflicts with migrants related to illegal and antisocial behavior have been recorded.

"People from abroad are involved in grave and especially grave crimes that have caused a wide public outcry, including terrorist activities," Kolokoltsev stressed.

The number of cases of illegal migration has also increased. A total of 373 episodes were revealed — this is 5.5 times more than last year. The number of decisions taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2024 to restrict foreigners from entering the Russia grew by 50% and amounted to almost 180 thousand. For 10 months of this year, 20 thousand people were expelled from the Russian Federation. During the same time, the police recorded more than 106 thousand violations in the field of migration legislation. 1.2 thousand people have been deprived of Russian citizenship.

At the same time, almost a quarter of the total number of guest workers did not pass the Russian language proficiency test — this is 66 thousand people, almost 7.5 thousand foreigners were not admitted to the exams because they did not even have basic knowledge.

The situation in the regions deserves special attention.

"Almost half of the regions were not ready to step up our efforts to find and expel illegal migrants. The situation regarding the creation of normal capacity and conditions of stay in centers for foreigners, to put it mildly, is far from prosperous. Even if we intensify our work, we will have nowhere to place these migrants for deportation. And the deadlines are sometimes delayed due to receiving information about their true passport data from the country of origin, sometimes for weeks or even months," Kolokoltsev said.

At the same time, Kolokoltsev noted, in Moscow, Sverdlovsk, Arkhangelsk regions, Tatarstan, local authorities have found an opportunity to ensure that the necessary number of migrants are in special institutions before they are removed from the country. There are no such opportunities in other regions. For example, there is an unsatisfactory situation in the Altai, Primorsky, Krasnoyarsk Territories, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk regions, Karelia, Kalmykia and other regions.

As EADaily reported, on the eve of the State Duma adopted four bills aimed at combating illegal migration. Now the organization of illegal migration is classified as a particularly serious crime. From February 2025, police officers will be able to independently make decisions on the administrative expulsion of foreigners.