DUSHANBE, June 26, Asia-Plus — More than 80,000 Tajik nationals have to date been officially allowed to work in the Russian Federation, Asia-Plus has learned at the migration service of the Ministry of Interior (MoI). 

The source at the MoI migration service said that Vyacheslav Postavnin, the deputy director of Russia’s Federal Migration Service, announced this at a meeting with the MoI migration service chief Ramazon Rahimov in Dushanbe on June 22.  

“One of major topics of the meeting was the issue of amnestying more than 50,000 Tajik citizens who had been deported from Russia over the last three years,” said the source, “Mr. Postavnin proposed to raise this issue at the next meeting of Tajik and Russian heads of state of Tajikistan that will be held in Dushanbe in the autumn this year.”

Tajik nationals deported from Russia for violating Russia’s registration procedure requirements (labor migrants are to register within three days of their arrival in Russia) are barred from returning to Russia for five years.   

The source added that the two had also discussed issues related to holding of Tajik nationals in temporary isolation centers for foreign citizens in Moscow and other Russian citizens. 

“Besides, Rahimov also told Postavnin that the Tajik migration service receives many complaints from Tajik labor migrants about illegal actions of some officers from the Russian law enforcement agencies,” the source said, adding that Postavnin promised that they will measures to tackle the problem.  

For his part, Postavnin suggested that Tajikistan’s state migration should provide assistance to Tajik labor migrants with getting medical certificates, insurance policy, and foreign passports for working in Russia, and organize registration of labor migrant in the close cooperation with Russia’s Migration Service, providing exchange of data via Internet.  

We will recall that Tajikistan has sought larger quota for Migrants to Russia.   Tajik Labor Minister told and Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov told a news conference in Dushanbe on January 22, 2007 that they had dispatched a formal request to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov seeking the relaxation of restrictions imposed by Russia on migrant workers from Tajikistan.  The Tajik government is seeking an increase in the number of work permits for Tajik nationals, and has requested that Russia allow some 200,000 additional Tajik laborers beyond the current limit of 600,000 Tajiks allowed to work in Russia each year.  Russia has imposed far stricter immigration regulations this year.