There are fewer migrants in the Angara region

In the Irkutsk region, at the start of 2009 the number of foreigners registered for migration dropped sharply, and in three weeks 1.5 thousand foreign workers left the region. In 2008, by contrast, migrant inflow grew, and workers were increasingly sent not only to Irkutsk but also to other industrial areas of the region. The article also describes what sectors foreigners work in, how their labor affects the regional budget, and what measures are used to enforce migration law.

Over the three weeks of 2009, 1.5 thousand foreign workers left the Irkutsk Region.The number of citizens registered for migration in the Irkutsk Region since the beginning of 2009 has fallen by almost a third compared with the same period last year. This trend is the exact opposite of the final figures for 2008, during which the number of registered visitors from abroad increased from 121 to 127 thousand people.
According to Yuri Gartner, Deputy Head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia for the Irkutsk Region, last year 4.8% more foreigners entered the region than in 2007. The main share of visitors—57%—traditionally comes from citizens of Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Next in number are China, Mongolia, and North Korea, which “supply” more than a third of the foreigners entering the Angara region. Recently, all of them have been migrating around the region more often. If previously foreigners mostly settled in Irkutsk, last year there was a trend toward the spread of foreign labor to other industrial centers of the region. Thus, alongside the traditionally attractive Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk, and Bodaibo for foreign workers, the list of receiving territories now includes the Ust-Udinsky, Chunsky, Mamsko-Chuisky, Katangsky districts and the Ust-Ordynsky Okrug. In these territories, the increase in the number of foreign workers ranged from 32 to 100%.
– Most often, those arriving from abroad work in construction, where the undisputed leadership remains with citizens of the PRC: they account for 96% of all foreigners employed in the construction sector, – Yuri Gartner noted. – They are also hired for low-paid service positions that are not in demand among the local population, as well as in prospecting artels and agriculture.
According to Yuri Gartner, last year the income received from the work of foreigners in the Irkutsk Region exceeded the regional budget expenditures related to attracting foreigners by 10.7 times. Thus, the largest amount of funds came from the payment of personal income tax on foreigners’ earnings, with those employed in construction accounting for 37% of total revenues, and those employed in mineral extraction for 30.4%.
At the same time, already at the end of last year, an outflow of foreign workers from our region became apparent. In Yuri Gartner’s opinion, this is a seasonal phenomenon associated with the suspension of construction work during the cold weather. However, over the three weeks of the new year, another one and a half thousand foreign workers left the Irkutsk Region.
– Perhaps this is due to the fact that the ruble began to lose ground against the dollar, and the salaries of foreigners in dollar terms noticeably decreased, becoming unattractive, – Yuri Gartner explained.
At the same time, due to the financial crisis, the Irkutsk Region’s quota for attracting foreign labor was also reduced. For this year, the Ministry of Health and Social Development set it at 39,214 people.
– Last year, 193 enterprises in the region received permission to attract foreign labor, and the total number of employers entitled to use foreign labor increased to 325, – Yuri Gartner said.
To monitor compliance with migration legislation, migration commissions have been created in 21 territories of the region. Together with them, about 130 thousand inspections were carried out, during which 103 thousand foreign citizens came under scrutiny. During the inspections, 17 thousand protocols were drawn up for all violations of migration legislation, and 962 foreigners were expelled from the Irkutsk Region for gross violations of migration registration rules.