He said that it was necessary to give more precise definitions to the federal law "On Refugees," to stop illegal immigration and that additional sanctions for illegal immigrants needed to be established.
Mr. Yunash said that the bill, "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation," had already been drafted. The bill provides for strengthening the control of the activity of foreign citizens in Russia. At the same time, the guarantees for the rights of foreign workers will be extended.
Presently, there are 5 million foreign citizens in Russia. However, Mr. Yunash said, in the past three years, the inflow of refugees into Russia has been consistently decreasing. In 2001, refugee status was given to 36,000 people, in 2002 it was given to 18,000 and in 2003 it was given to 3,100 people. According to his data, as of the beginning of 2004, 352,000 people had refugee status. Mr. Yunash said that in comparison with 2001, the number of refugees has decreased by half.
He also pointed out that a program up to 2010 had been developed to ensure housing for refugees. It provides for subsidies for people who already have refugee status to buy housing. The program could be adopted in the second quarter of this year.
