The document was drawn up on the instructions of Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council, and has been approved by the government, Kolokoltsev said at a Federation Council session. It will be sent to governors in the near future.
Kolokoltsev said police measures alone are insufficient and a comprehensive approach is needed. The Interior Ministry proposes monitoring where and on what terms large employers house foreign employees. "Allowing enclave residence of foreign citizens is impermissible in any way," the minister said.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said foreigners living in Russia should integrate into local society. According to her, they must assimilate into daily life, culture and traditions rather than remain an enclave living on its own.
Over nine months, the number of foreigners who entered Russia fell by 10% to 7 million, Kolokoltsev said. Half of migrants work illegally, he added.
This year the Interior Ministry closed entry to the country for 290,000 foreigners, a figure that nearly doubled year on year. Over the past three years, 5,000 naturalized migrants were stripped of Russian citizenship, mainly for committing crimes.
According to Kolokoltsev, 6.5 million foreign citizens are currently in Russia, and more than 800,000 people are on the "controlled persons" register. In September, Deputy Minister Andrei Kikot told Vladimir Putin at a meeting that the Interior Ministry had prepared a bill obliging employers to organize housing for labor migrants and their transport to the workplace. Putin called this arrangement "a civilized way to ensure the rights and freedoms of migrants."
Medvedev ordered measures against the formation of migrant enclaves in April, The Moscow Times reports. At the time he said the compact residence of foreigners complicates their adaptation and compliance with Russian laws. Valery Fadeyev, head of the presidential Human Rights Council, has also called for combating such enclaves, stressing that Russia needs people who can live together "and not organize kishlaks inside cities." How many such communities exist in the country is unknown.
In the summer, Russia adopted a law tightening requirements for labor migrants. It obliges a migrant to support himself and dependents at a level not below the subsistence minimum and to make advance income tax payments for dependents. In June, the State Duma raised fees for work permits and residence permits several times over, and Putin signed a law on mandatory medical examination under threat of a fine.