Interfax: Most migrants come to Russia in visa-free travel regime, many don’t speak Russian

MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) – A third of migrant workers do not speak Russian, Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky said.

“We are witnessing a surge in the arrivals of migrants from CIS member countries. As of now, 11.1 million foreigners are staying in Russia, and almost three-quarters of them enjoy the visa-free travel regime,” he told a roundtable in Moscow on Wednesday.

“Approximately 30-40% of migrant workers arriving in Russia are young people, aged between 17 and 29. Most of them are not prepared to live a normal life in our country. They do not know the language and do not have a profession, they simply decide to work in Russia,” Romodanovsky said.

He said earlier that Russia did not plan to implement a visa regime with CIS countries, from where most migrants were arriving.

Federal Migration Service deputy head Anatoly Fomenko said on April 8, 2013, that 2.5 million citizens of Uzbekistan, 1.1 million citizens of Tajikistan, over 500,000 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, 1.3 million citizens of Ukraine and 500,000 citizens of Moldova were staying in Russia at the moment.

[featured image is past file photo of migrant workers in Russia, not necessarily directly related to article subject matter]