10 November 2003 19:03
Russian census explodes immigration myths
Moscow, 10 November: The national census has "confounded numerous myths" about Russia's poor migration
status, a news conference was told today by Vladimir Zorin, the member of the government in charge of nationality
matters.
The 2002 census showed that Russia does not supply migrants for other countries, he said, but on the contrary takes
them in from elsewhere and has become "a country attractive to migrants".
"About 11m migrants have come here in the past 13 years and about 6m have left. This means that our country is
the third largest destination for migrants after the USA and Germany," Zorin said.
The census also failed to confirm fears about the migration situation in the Far East, showing that there are 35,000
Chinese in the country and not millions as claimed by analysts, Zorin said. However, he acknowledged that this figure
represented a seven-fold increase. Talk of millions of Azeris was also proved wrong, since there are just 62,000 in
Russia. Zorin did not deny the existence of illegal immigrants, but said the census figures indicate they are not as
numerous as feared. The census also showed that most (up to 70 per cent) migrants work in the economy and are not market
traders, the minister went on.
Zorin announced that next year Russia will issue a quota of 436,000 jobs for foreigners. A third of all foreign
workers (30 per cent) will be employed in the construction industry, 23 per cent in trade and catering, 12 per cent in
industry, 7.4 per cent in agriculture and 2.4 per cent in transport. According to Zorin, "on the whole, migration
in Russia is emerging from the shadows". Over 9m migration cards have been issued in Russia since the beginning of
the year.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
