Migrants must learn Russian and respect the law – Putin

Moscow wants immigration but must safeguard the interests of Russia first, the president said

Immigrants who come to work and live in Russia must comply with its laws and respect its customs and traditions, including learning its language, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

Putin addressed the issue at the meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, traditionally held in early December.

“We need to attract such labor resources that meet the interests of the Russian economy,” the president said. “This means that [these] people must be prepared from a linguistic, ethnocultural point of view. They must know our traditions and so on.”

The interest of Russia and its citizens “must be put first,” the president insisted. All immigrants and visitors also “must comply with Russian laws,” Putin clarified. “And, of course, we, as a civilized country, must also ensure their rights.” 

Russia is opening schools in several countries of the former Soviet Union – part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to assist with Russian language instruction and cultural events, the president informed the council.

Moscow has withdrawn from a number of international human rights organizations because they became “virtually controlled” by the West, demonstrating “political bias, hypocrisy and open selectivity,” Putin said in his opening remarks.

For eight years, these organizations looked away and did nothing when confronted with “flagrant violations” by Ukraine against the residents of Donbass, the Russian president noted. Not only did they “not notice” the violations happening, they encouraged Russophobia and even supported countries “racing to take first place in the shameful competition” of who would hate Russia more.

Moscow is fully committed to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is “ready to cooperate with all interested countries and partners to find solutions to form an effective, fair, equal system for ensuring human rights for all,” Putin concluded.