The Patriarch spoke about the threat of loss of Russian identity due to the influx of migrants

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ is concerned about the long-term consequences of attracting cheap labor to Russia from abroad. In his opinion, such people “do not become close to us either in faith or culture.” He fears that migrants “God forbid, they will dominate,” and then the Russians will “lose the country.” He called the Russian people the “core” of Russia.

“They have their own faith and their own culture. An educated, intelligent Russian person must respect both the faith and culture of other people, but if another faith, another culture spreads so much that at some point they become equal or, God forbid, begin to dominate, then we will lose country, we will lose our identity,” the patriarch said at a meeting with students of Moscow State Pedagogical University (quote from “Interfax”).

He believes that the desire to “get cheap labor” in Moscow “should not attract a huge number of people belonging to a different culture, to a different faith, who often do not know the Russian language and do not have, excuse me, respect for Russia and its people.” The Patriarch assured that he does not feel negative towards Muslims. The problem supposedly lies in demographic processes, “which can radically change the nature of our country and our state.” He believes that what is happening “can lead to prosperity for everyone, or it can end in very great difficulties and problems for Russia, a multinational state, but the core of which is the Russian people.”

The Prosecutor General’s Office reported that by the end of 2022 recorded an increase in the crime rate among migrants by 10%. The number of migrants deported from Russia last year increased 2.5 times. In September to the State Duma contributed a bill on the expulsion of migrants for violating the Code of Administrative Offences.

Laura Keffer