Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Russia

Putin Calls For Overhaul Of Migration Law

Police on the streets of Kondopoga in early September (ITAR-TASS)

PRAGUE, October 25, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin today called on ministers to "bring order" to the country's immigration and employment legislation to prevent outbreaks of ethnic violence.

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October 25, 2006

"We need neither provocateurs, on the one hand, nor corrupt [government officials], on the other hand," Putin said in a live session broadcast on national television networks and radio stations.

MORE: Coverage of President Putin's speech in Russian from RFE/RL's Russian Service.

"We should bring order to the [retail and wholesale] trade system, to food markets, we should bring order on issues of migration and labor."

Putin was responding to a question posed by a listener in northwestern city of Kondopoga, scene of a recent spate of ethnic violence during which local residents accused immigrants of monopolizing the city's markets.

Two Russians died in a wave of violence following a brawl in a restaurant between a group of ethnic Russians and Chechens on August 30.

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