Russia: Immigration
01 January 1991
Russia: Immigration
artdoc April=1995
Compulsory aids tests for foreigners
The Russian state duma has passed a bill requiring all foreigners
`who come to Russia for work, study, or for any other purpose'
to undergo compulsory aids tests or face deportation. The bill
was passed by 281 votes to three without discussion at its third
reading. Deputies added a provision to the bill stipulating that
it would be up to the Russian government to implement the bill.
Myles Druckman of the American medical centre, a Moscow clinic
catering for foreigners, says the new legislation is `based on
fear-mongering and nationalistic fervour'. Although little more
than 100 people have died of aids in Russia since 1987, many
Russians blame the West for the rise in prostitution, pornography
etc., since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Last June, Bela
Denisyenko, chairman of the Duma's health committee said that sex
with a foreigner was `100 times more dangerous than with a
Russian' (Guardian 1,12.11.94).
Anti-muslim racism grows as Russia invades Chechenia
The head of the Islamic cultural centre of Russia in Moscow has
warned of growing racism against non-Russians, particularly
muslims, living in Russia. Abdul-Vakhed Niyazov said there were
about a million Muslims in the Moscow area. And it is `dark-
skinned Caucasians', often referred to as `blacks', who tend to
get stopped by the police in the metro for spot checks. The
build-up to the Russian invasion of Chechenia has heightened
stereotypes. Amin Osmayev, who organised a conference on
Chechenia's future, says the image of the people of the Caucasus
as bandits with a genetic inclination to violent crime had seeped
into the media. Mr.Osmayev an opponent of Chechenia's president
who fled to Russia, says it is almost impossible to rent a flat
in Moscow, where adverts for accommodation openly declare `No
Caucasians'. And the judicial chamber for information disputes,
a presidential watch-dog, has criticised Moscow papers for
ethnically-biased crime reporting (Guardian 3.12.94).
IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 12, March 1995. Contact: Liz
Fekete, Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London
WC1X 9HS. Tel: 0171 837 0041