Deportation Cost Accounting: Illegal Immigrants Must Pay for Their Return to Their Country of Origin
MPs propose not using budget funds to deport foreign nationals who violate the law
Mikhail Matveyev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Regional Policy and Local Self-Government of the State Duma, stated in a live broadcast on "Sputnik" radio that immigrants who violate Russian laws should pay for their return to their country of origin.
He pointed out that for immigrants who need to be deported but cannot afford the cost of a return flight, they are currently placed in temporary reception centers. These immigrants often remain in the centers for several months until funds for deportation are found.
In the opinion of this MP, implementing a "return ticket deposit" system could avoid such situations — labor migrants would have to pay a deposit upon entry. As an alternative to the deposit system, he also proposed that illegal immigrants earn the cost of their return through forced labor.
It should be noted that this idea is not new. In May this year, members of the "New People" faction (фракция «Новые люди») had previously proposed a similar initiative: requiring labor migrants entering Russia to pay a special deposit, which would be used to cover the costs of deportation if the migrant violates the law; if the migrant does not violate any regulations, the deposit will be fully refunded.
Relevant parties have submitted an application to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vladimir Kolokol'tsev, requesting the study of the feasibility of implementing the "return ticket" system. The application clearly states that the core objective of this initiative is to reduce the financial burden on the state budget and improve the efficiency of immigration policy implementation. According to data provided by the MP, in 2024, the Russian federal budget spent more than 1 billion rubles on the deportation of foreign citizens, nearly doubling compared to the previous year.
Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma of Russia, stated that in the first eight months of this year, the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments (ФССП) had deported about 35,000 foreign citizens who violated the immigration law. At the same time, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs show that as of September 1, there were 770,000 people registered in the monitoring system, one-third of whom are women and children.
People can't help but ask, has the "comfortable life" of illegal immigrants come to an end? Will they all voluntarily undergo biometric identification, take drug and infectious disease tests, pay taxes legally, learn Russian, and study the Russian Federation Criminal Code in order to stay in Russia? The answer is likely to be a big question mark — illegal immigrants have already learned how to circumvent the prohibitions.
Additionally, political scientist Vadim Trukhachev believes that Russia lags far behind the EU in the adoption of biometric recognition systems at airports.
This expert wrote in his Telegram channel: "Since October 12, the Schengen area's 29 countries have started to collect fingerprints and automatically take photos of all incoming passengers, a system that largely replaces traditional passport checks. Within the next six months, all international airports in Europe will implement this system."
The pilot project for the collection of biometric data of foreign citizens was launched on December 1, 2024, with pilot locations including airports in Moscow, as well as the "Mashatkovо" road border checkpoint (автомобильный пункт пропуска «Маштаково») in Orenburg Oblast (bordering Kazakhstan).
In April, Alexander Gorchov, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, revealed that within a few months after the launch of the pilot project, the relevant authorities successfully prevented 13,000 attempts at illegal entry, intercepted 12,000 people who had been banned from entering due to court rulings, foiled the re-entry plans of 445 individuals who had been deported, and arrested 172 fugitives during entry checks.
Thus, the results of this pilot project are worth acknowledging.
Sergei Koliaskin, a public figure and social activist, pointed out: "But currently, the system is only being implemented at four border checkpoints, while most immigrants enter via trains and cars. Therefore, Russia should comprehensively implement biometric identification checks at all entry points."
Although Russia has introduced multiple laws and regulations aimed at regulating the order in the field of immigration, why have we not seen significant positive changes so far?
The newspaper "Pravda" ("СП" is the abbreviation for the Russian name of the newspaper) interviewed Bogdan Bypalko, a member of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations and a political scientist, on this issue. Here are his views:
"Officials can certainly report improvements in certain indicators, but overall, the core issue lies in the fact that our immigration policy is seriously outdated and urgently needs large-scale, fundamental updates.
First, the immigration policy should be divided into several directions: labor migration, repatriation of compatriots, and 'Russia as a refuge' type of immigration. Each direction targets different groups, and the policy measures required should be completely differentiated. Of course, under this framework of fundamental reform, technological innovation should also be introduced.
For example, I heard proposals that require immigrants to carry specific identity documents, allowing their location to be tracked in real-time through GPS (Global Positioning System) or GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System).
Because currently, we have no idea where immigrants go once they cross the border into Russia.
If immigrants go underground (illegally reside), we have no idea where they are. Even if they register in a place, we can only roughly know where they are, and the registration address is often not actually located at their actual residence.
Therefore, we must completely change the existing technical means and promote a series of systems nationwide — including biometric data collection systems, as well as personnel identification systems based on DNA, iris, and fingerprint characteristics. At the same time, immigrants should be required to carry legal documents, ensuring that all law enforcement agencies can track the real-time location of these individuals through these documents."
"Pravda": What do you think of the proposal by MP Matveyev regarding the "immigrant deportation deposit"?
Bogdan Bypalko: "In fact, for many years, I have heard similar proposals from various politicians, and Matveyev is just repeating them again.
Undoubtedly, this proposal is constructive. Why should the state use fiscal funds — that is, the taxes paid by citizens — to deport people who have broken the law in our country? Usually, the country of origin does not pay for the deportation costs of its citizens, unless it is to exert large-scale economic or political pressure on them. Obviously, our foreign policy follows different principles, and we tend not to adopt such pressure measures.
"Pravda": Could you explain this point specifically?
Bogdan Bypalko: "For example, although purchasing voluntary health insurance (ДМС) is one of the necessary conditions for foreign citizens to legally reside in Russia, we have not yet established a competitive health insurance system for immigrants.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7561756247102112291/
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