They propose to push foreigners out of the area – Kommersant
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A bill has been introduced to the State Duma that prohibits migrants from working in medical institutions, pharmacies, schools, as well as taxis and cargo transportation. According to the initiators, Russians complain about the low qualifications of these specialists. The ban, they believe, will not only reduce discontent, but also free up jobs for Russian citizens. Experts from various fields interviewed by Kommersant did not support the initiative, calling it “medieval” and populist.
A group of deputies led by the leader of the A Just Russia – For Truth party, Sergei Mironov, submitted to the State Duma a bill banning foreign citizens from working in medical institutions, pharmacies and schools. The explanatory note states that recently the negative attitude of Russians towards the increase in the number of unskilled foreign workers has been growing. This, according to the authors of the bill, is due to the active attraction of additional labor resources to the country. The main influx of labor migrants, deputies emphasize, comes from visitors from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The authors of the initiative propose to limit the permissible share of foreign workers in all types of economic activity to 5%.
And also establish a complete ban on attracting migrants to “the most sensitive social spheres, in which the unskilled labor of foreign workers can cause more harm than good.” Deputies named such “sensitive areas” as work in medical institutions and schools. They also noted work in passenger taxis and trucking, “where there has been a particular increase in traffic accidents involving migrants, including fatalities.”
“The implementation of the bill will make it possible to stop the increase in migrants in these sectors of the economy, providing additional jobs to citizens of the Russian Federation,” the explanatory note says.
Let us note that the bill contradicts the position of the Ministry of Health. Thus, in July, during the annual report in the State Duma, Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko stated that it is necessary to “pay attention” to medical students from foreign countries. According to the minister, there are already 75 thousand of them, and more than 3.5 thousand are ready to connect their lives and professions with Russia. And the Ministry of Justice previously included doctors in the list of specialties of foreign citizens and stateless people who can obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified manner.
In 2022, Roszdravnadzor expanded employment opportunities for foreign medical workers and pharmacists – for this they need to pass a special exam. In the spring of 2023, the department published data on foreign specialists who in 2022 wanted to obtain a license to carry out medical or pharmaceutical activities in Russia. According to the supervisory authority, 5.3 thousand such requests were received over the year. Most of all – from doctors who received their education in Ukraine (36.5%, or 1.94 thousand people).
Commenting on the new initiative of the deputies, the Ministry of Health recalled: the procedure for admitting foreign medical specialists to carry out professional activities consists of several stages. At the first stage, they apply to Rosobrnadzor to establish the equivalence (nostrification) of the education document. At the second stage, Roszdravnadzor determines the compliance of the education they received with Russian qualification requirements. And only after this foreigners are allowed to be accredited – exclusively in Russian with the involvement of practicing specialists and representatives of professional non-profit organizations. “Thus, specialists who meet Russian standards for the quality of medical care are allowed into the industry. They are actively involved in providing medical care to the residents of our country and increasing its accessibility,” stated the press service of the Ministry of Health.
Co-chairman of the medical workers’ union “Action” Andrei Konoval confirmed that a “quite noticeable” number of foreigners are employed in Russian hospitals, although this process is unevenly distributed across regions. Mr. Konoval does not see a problem in this, and considers the initiative of parliamentarians “medieval.” “Personnel problems will be solved only when wages are seriously increased and working conditions are improved. Then it will be more difficult for migrants to compete with our specialists. After all, Russian medical universities and medical schools, in general, produce enough personnel, they just don’t reach medical institutions,” the expert said.
Chairman of the interregional trade union “Teacher” Vsevolod Lukhovitsky said that the problem of migrants does not concern teaching staff at all. He reminds that in order to teach in a Russian school, you need a specialized education—most often a higher education—and a state-issued diploma.
“Accordingly, if a person has received such a diploma, this indicates his professional qualifications, no matter where he is from,” Mr. Lukhovitsky is sure.
He added that in Russia there is a complex procedure for recognizing foreign diplomas, so there is “less than a percent” of teachers without Russian education in the system.
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection Sergei Leonov (LDPR) said that he considers it necessary to “accumulate” “the best minds and the best specialists” in medicine, education and other areas. He also reminded his colleagues that ethnic Russians with citizenship of another country can also have migrant status.
Former deputy head of the Federal Migration Service, head of the Center for Analytical and Practical Research of Migration Processes Vyacheslav Postavnin criticized the proposal of the deputies. He pointed out that the initiative is not supported by proper research. At the same time, there really is a problem in the medical field, the expert believes: “In some institutions there is a tendency for “native” Russians to be forced out by those who have recently received citizenship. But these are no longer migrants, but Russian citizens.”
Recently, the Duma parties have lost any real identity, says Alexey Firsov, a sociologist and head of the Platform social design center: “They have all merged into a mononucleus at the level of the council, government support, and so on. And since identity still needs to be maintained, various extravagant initiatives appear that are in an ideologically safe zone and at the same time make it possible to highlight the party brand.” In his opinion, in the overwhelming majority of such cases, the authors of initiatives do not count on their implementation, but on achieving a media effect.
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