Medvedev proposes changes to Russia’s migration policy

Migrants who do not work or study in the country should ultimately leave, former President Dmitry Medvedev has said

Russian migration policy should only reflect national interests and those who do not work or study in the country should be made to leave, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the remarks on Thursday while addressing a meeting on state migration policies.

“Migration policy should truly meet the interests of our citizens, and not some foreign states or groups of states, no matter how important they are for us,” Medvedev said. He added that government agencies needed to establish strict control over these policies as a matter of national security.

The former president also stressed the importance of preventing the formation of “ethnic enclaves” in Russia, which create fertile ground for the spread of extremism and terrorism.

“We must know exactly who and why they have arrived, where they work and live, whether they are ready to integrate into Russian society[.]” Medvedev explained.

Migrants who do not work or study in Russia should ultimately leave the country, he said, adding that low-skilled migrants should stay only for their defined work period.

At the same time, Medvedev said that Russia should create conditions to encourage “high-skilled specialists” to work in the country.

He also urged tighter supervision of the integration of migrant children into society. Children who do not know the Russian language should no longer be admitted to schools, he said, arguing that this negatively impacts the general level of education in the country. “It’s time to end it,” according to Medvedev.

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Statistics show that 70% of Russians are in favor of tightening migration policy, Medvedev said, citing a VCIOM poll. He added that Russian citizens are tired of the “outrageous behavior of individual migrants.”

The former president also called for the introduction of a ‘digital migrant profile’ to identify foreigners throughout the country.

This week, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the city would begin issuing smart ID cards for migrants arriving in Russia from 2025 as part of an ongoing trial.

Russia’s Investigative Committee announced earlier this month that migrants had committed more than 26,000 crimes since the start of the year, with the number of violations by undocumented migrants having tripled, from 2,880 in 2023 to 8,059 this year.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are currently some 6.2 million foreign citizens living in the country, of which an estimated 740,000 are present illegally.