MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th May, 2020) Russia may grant a legal amnesty for undocumented immigrants amid the coronavirus pandemic to help those of them who have not committed any offenses to come "out of the shadows" and get registered, an Interior Ministry source told Sputnik.
According to the source, the ministry worked out a forecast analysis of the development of the migration situation in Russia, taking into account "force majeure factors caused by the coronavirus pandemic." The experts behind the analysis note that "an unprecedentedly large army of migrants has turned out to be among the socially vulnerable groups of the population."
"Analysts have proposed officially announcing a legal amnesty for migrants in an illegal or semi-legal status who have committed no offenses to take them, so to speak, out of the shadows and conduct mass state registration," the source said.
The authors of the document believe that Russia could add social support measures for migrants to the package of "unprecedented flexible migration procedures" that have been put in place due to the pandemic.
According to the source, various estimates show that between 4 million and 12 million foreigners have stayed in Russia amid the coronavirus crisis. Of these, only 2.5 million are officially registered migrant workers.
In light of the pandemic, Russia has already automatically extended permits for foreign workers that expired after March 15 for another 93 days. In addition, more than 320,000 foreign citizens have applied to the Interior Ministry to extend their visas and work permits during the pandemic.
