It turned out how the procedure for deportation and expulsion will change in Russia

The attitude towards migrants in Russia, frankly, is twofold. On the one hand, even the president says that their labor resources are important (for example: 65% of all couriers and 60% of taxi drivers in Moscow and the region are visitors from other countries). On the other hand, they often break the law (including through ignorance). However, in the general statistics of crimes, only 2-4 percent of them are committed by foreigners. So the criminal danger they carry is largely a myth. But they do often violate administrative legislation, and this mainly concerns violations of the regime of stay in the Russian Federation.

Recently, the number of deported and expelled began to grow. If in 2021 the courts issued 9,876 decisions on administrative expulsion, then in 2022 – as much as 32,522. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of foreigners placed in 2022 increased by more than 3 times and amounted to 60,554 people (in 20212 – 19,471) .

It is worth explaining the difference between expulsion and deportation. The first is the punishment of a foreigner for violating laws on the territory of Russia, which occurs on the basis of a court decision. And deportation is applied when a foreigner is illegally on the territory of Russia (for example, his permit documents have expired), and the decision on it is made by the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

So people are often expelled on a formal basis. Tatyana Moskalkova cited as an example at a meeting of the Expert Council under the HRC (it took place on July 6) cases when a person lost documents in Russia, but did not have time or could not restore them. One of these, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, lived in Russia for many years, started a family, has two young children, works, and has no one and nothing left in his homeland. Under current law, he should be expelled for losing his passport and not getting it back on time. There is no alternative.

“I turned to the president with a request to amend the administrative code,” Moskalkova said at the Council. – So that in such cases there is only a fine, without expulsion.

A separate story with the citizens of Ukraine who believe that their expulsion or deportation poses a threat to life. In general, all these “exiles”, as is known, are kept in the Central Guard, and, in fact, there is no restriction on the length of stay there. Therefore, according to Moskalkova, there were both protests and suicides.

And all this, among other things, because the ZVIG is not intended for people to stay there for a long time. Citizens who have not committed crimes are in worse conditions than criminals.

The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs acknowledged that out of 79 centers, only 16 comply with the law (for example, there are no walking yards, medical rooms). But even those that do are a prison.

Here are some sketches of my recent (several months ago) test as a human rights activist of the TsVIG “Sakharovo”:

A small room (one would like to call it a camera, because they do not differ in appearance). Inside there are iron bunk beds. Not all have mattresses. And it looks especially wild when a disposable sheet is laid directly on the iron grate. In general, it is impossible to sleep on disposable underwear for a long time. There is neither a TV nor a refrigerator in the room, since they are not provided for by law (and the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not allocate funds for their purchase).

One of the men complains that they all seem to be “frozen”. They are locked up, no one organized any leisure for them.

There is no gym, no library. We sit like this around the clock and degrade. We turn into animals.

– Once a day there can be a walk, but in the walking yard there is not even the simplest horizontal bar to pull up, – another complains. – In a few months of this lifestyle, all my muscles and bones began to hurt. It’s like I’m 10 years older.

In another room, they report that there is no shop, no stall, it is impossible to buy any provisions. They feed here three times a day, but such food is not suitable for many (including for religious reasons and because of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract).

— Letters are not registered here. So it’s impossible to track if they were sent. I wrote a few, but I do not know their fate. And I don’t get answers for many months. There are no meeting rooms with a lawyer. There is no place to wash and dry clothes. It’s just torture!

In the third room sit (lying) African Americans who do not speak Russian. They show with gestures that they need additional food, things, a translator and books. They look depressing. The toilet, the sink in their room is in a terrible state, plaster is hanging from the ceiling.

This check was almost a year ago, but little has changed since then. More precisely, some of the people were moved to a new building, where there are clean walls, working plumbing. But everything else is the same.

There are rare exceptions (ZVIG Yekaterinburg), where even children’s rooms are provided. But all this thanks to outside support. The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that it is good for governors, diasporas and patrons to help. Well, of course, but there is not much hope for this.

Therefore, the author of these lines took the initiative to amend the legislation and fix there the obligation to equip TsVIGI with gyms and libraries, rooms for meetings with relatives and lawyers, a stall, a laundry, equip walking yards, provide rooms with TVs, refrigerators, register correspondence. In a good way, and iron bunk beds need to be replaced with ordinary beds. I repeat, ZVIG is not a prison, and the people there did not commit crimes. They are exiles in one country, but not outcasts of the whole society.

But the most important thing, of course, is not to keep them there for a long time: either release them or send them home. And if the option of sending is chosen, then the procedure should not degrade human dignity. After all, human rights activists receive complaints that even women are expelled and deported in handcuffs. That’s how they get on the plane.