Migrants coming to Russia must be law-abiding: Volodin

Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with “Vesti” that all migrants coming to Russia must abide by Russian laws, know the Russian language, and respect the country’s traditions.

“When it comes to the behavior of migrants, we emphasize that they must be law-abiding individuals who have come here to work. They must understand that any violations will result in punishment and deportation,” Volodin said.

He recalled that the State Duma has passed two bills in this area in their first reading. One provides for expanding the grounds for expelling migrants for administrative offenses, including violations of public conduct rules. The second concerns the obtaining of residence permits and citizenship, and would allow applications to be denied where the applicant has a criminal record.

According to Volodin, such measures are necessary to establish clear rules for the stay of foreign nationals in Russia. “All of these provisions are extremely necessary, because when we hospitably opened all our doors, all kinds of people came, many had to be sent back, because they arrived with ill intentions, did not comply with the laws, and this created serious problems,” he noted.