Telegram Партия коммунистов-интернационалистов (ПКИ)
Трудовая миграция: пропаганда и реальность
Anti-migrant speeches by politicians, crimes and even full-blown pogroms have become commonplace in recent times. At their behest, anti-migrant and nationalist sentiments are growing in society, fueled by speeches and laws introduced by the establishment of all imperialist powers.
The right-wing parties are ready to launch hundreds of nationalist campaigns for one and only one purpose - to pit the workers of different nationalities against each other, to draw the gaze of the working class away from the real root of all its problems - the capitalist system itself, to prevent the proletariat from solidarizing at all costs. Indeed, their policy is “divide and rule”!
This trend has not bypassed Russia - after the infamous events at the Crocus City Hall, politicians of various ranks and ranks once again began to call for “fighting for the preservation of traditional values and the monolithic nature of the Russian nation”. Crimes motivated by national hatred became more frequent and all sorts of nationalist organizations - mainly and unfortunately the widely known organization “Russian Community” - began to grow and be financed at an accelerated pace.
Right-wing politicians and government officials blame migrants for all the troubles of Russians. Anti-migrant nationalist organizations try to convince the population that migrants are evil, take away their jobs, and in general are the main threat to their security. But is this really the case?
Imperialism, the national question and migrants
The idea that it is possible to understand the roots of migrants' position in society in isolation from the laws of functioning of this very society is wrong from the outset. Emigration (labor emigration) is a natural product of the process of “globalization” that forms an international system of division and exploitation of labor, known to us, to use Lenin's terminology, as imperialism.
Imperialism, both 100 years ago and now, is expressed in the domination of large international corporations - monopolies, generating an endless struggle between the largest capitalist powers for the economic interests of the monopolies - markets, labor, as well as for strategically important territories for international trade. But the methods of “struggle” for the economic interests of the monopolies are far from being limited to the market - the largest capitalists are no stranger to using cultural, political and forceful methods, up to and including wars for the redistribution of zones of influence.
How do Marxists explain the birth of such a phenomenon as imperialism?
As a result of the development of internal laws of market logic, which stimulate companies to accumulate capital as efficiently as possible, increasing surplus value and reducing costs, if not for raw materials, then for labor, starting with increasing labor efficiency with the introduction of new methods, techniques and technologies, and ending with outright fraud and deception of workers.
Thus a problematic tendency is formed - produced goods enter into live competition on the “market”. There the most “strong” capital is chosen, the one that has been able to produce the same goods as the others, but at a lower cost.
Its goods can be exhibited for a lower price (without loss of profit), due to which it will be more attractive in the eyes of consumers - and therefore it will be bought. “Weak” companies will go bankrupt and settle down in less promising areas of the market, while ‘strong’ companies will move to the most promising sectors of the economy and rise above other producers.
But here comes a different kind of problem - suddenly, the rate of profit, which should be growing, is getting smaller and smaller. Paradoxically, it is the ever-increasing labor costs (on “variable capital”, wage fund), among others, that are the main cause of falling profits.
Why? Labor power is the only real source of profit - after all, only labor is the source of all value, and labor power is nothing but the ability to work. The value of labor power (which is calculated in the same way as all commodities, and is equal to the cost of its reproduction - that is, providing the conditions of existence of the worker and his family), for example, for one working day, is less than the total value of the goods produced by workers for the same period on average. The profit that the capitalist receives after selling his commodity on the market is actually contained in the commodity at the stage of production - in the form of surplus value, which is essentially the difference between the value of labor done and the value of labor power. This is why Marx called surplus value “the unpaid labor of the worker.”
Yes, the introduction of new technologies allows to reduce wage costs, modify the labor process and save money at the production stage, but it also leads to the fact that the share of surplus value included in the final market value of goods (price) also decreases. At the same time, no investment in machinery and technology (“permanent capital”, which simply transfers part of its value to the commodity produced with it) entails an increase in the “surplus” part of value.
And this affects not only individual owners, but all producers in general. This phenomenon is called the “tendency of the rate of profit to fall” - the economic scourge of capitalism, a law that is the result of contradictions between the individual capitalist and the capitalist system as a whole: the capitalist cannot refuse to introduce technology into production, because it allows him to accumulate capital more efficiently and stay on the market, but in the end, constant modernization leads to a lowering of the rate of profit - and the capitalists find themselves in the situation they were trying to avoid. This contradiction ultimately cannot be abolished; it is intrinsic to capitalism.
This tendency naturally deepens with the development of capitalism, forcing capitalists to invent ever more sophisticated ways to “delay” the consequences of this economic law. This is how, in the century before last, monopolies began to emerge.
What is the essence of monopolies? It is an association of the largest capitals in order to increase the profitability of production, by reducing the market factor between related capitals, each of the chain of which is a supplier of “raw materials” to the other or somehow connected with the production of the other. In other words, it is a collective and long-term (but not eternal) agreement between the largest capitals to reduce the “randomness factor”, to establish “partial control” over prices, and at the same time to increase profitability for everyone. The consequence of this is that smaller capitals are driven out of the market spheres in which large capitals have established themselves, due to the fact that the products of large capitals are cheaper and therefore more competitive and attractive than those of small producers.
Over time, driven by exactly the same tendency to concentrate and centralize capital in order to increase the rate of profit, large industrial and banking capitals merged, thus forming financial monopolies. Such national “empires” gradually established complete domination within the national market and, compelled to increase the efficiency of their business all the time, moved to expand their production in the territory of former colonial countries. Thus, the process of capital expansion began - if before that the relations with the rest of the world were limited to the export, sale of goods abroad, then since the emergence of large national monopolies - begins to export capital itself, export production. Subsequently, the international market is also divided into zones of influence and the most international monopolies are formed in it. Naturally, alliances of this kind are also contradictory. This is manifested in the fact that in a world in which the spheres of influence in the territories of peripheral countries are already fully divided between the world's largest capitals, there will always be competition for these very peripheral markets. The struggle for redistribution of influence in the periphery can be conducted in various ways - from bribing the local government and up to unleashing international wars for the sake of “redistribution” of the boundaries of spheres of influence.
However, this topic deserves a separate consideration. Here we will focus on the very economic attitude of the center to the periphery.
Why does this very “expansion” of capital to less developed countries take place at all? We have already figured out that it increases profitability, but how exactly? For this purpose, let us remember where we started - the relationship between labor and capital. In the most developed capitalist countries, along with the processes of concentration and centralization of capital, there have also been processes of growth and development of the working class and, at the same time, an increase in its standard of living, due both to its natural economic strike struggle with capital for higher wages and to “indulgences” on the part of capital and governments, made against the background of general growth and with the aim of “stabilizing” the workers' movement and delaying the onset of the social revolution. Naturally, the wages of the working class in the most developed countries grew, which had a direct and negative impact on the profits of the capitalists.
What about the peripheries? Many of them were still at the feudal stage of development, the working class, if there was any, was not fully formed. The imperialist countries formed their production by forcibly seizing land and natural resources, destroying the peasantry as a class and forcing it to work for the “Western capitalists”. The availability of resources, the non-alternative reality for the workers of colonial countries created material conditions for the realization of super-exploitation. Thus, workers are forced to work in much worse conditions, with fewer or no social guarantees, benefits, and most importantly, for significantly lower wages! That's where the profitability of the capital export strategy lies - it's access to new markets of cheaper labor.
But that's just the beginning. We also know that every capitalist economy generates unemployment. At first, this problem affects only the centers of capital accumulation, because since the very emergence of capitalism there has been a “market selection” - those who are willing to work for lower wages, and at the same time work more and better - “won” in labor competition, and those who lost - formed a “reserve army of labor” - the unemployed or those who do not have a permanent place of employment (precariat).
At the same time, uneven development within the capitalist system generates mass migration to imperialist countries. Capitalism, as a system, is extremely dependent on this very reserve army of labor, which makes it possible to expand production when necessary and to keep wages at a minimum level, i.e. equal to the cost of labor power - the minimum necessary means for human existence as such. The replenishment of the reserve army of labor used to be carried out mainly within nation-states through reproduction carried out by women from the indigenous population of countries - hence the strict regulation of this sphere of life (e.g., abortion bans) that continues even now. However, when capitalism degenerates into imperialism, a new way of replenishing the labor force opens up, namely through the flow of migrants, the maintenance of whose viability can be of less concern - after all, this is the problem of other states, where new people will always come from! This is especially advantageous for the imperialist countries, because it allows them to use cheap labor for which it is almost impossible to turn to legal methods to protect their rights. The capitalists are even ready to promote whole state campaigns to attract migrants to the center countries. There are frequent cases of organized transportation of whole masses of migrants across borders in the most disgusting conditions, based on the motivation to save money on tickets for their individual transportation.
All this creates favorable conditions for the super-exploitation of migrants: for an average wage, capitalists can extend the working hours of migrants, deprive them of legal vacations and shorten weekends, delay payment of wages, deprive them of legal medical care in case of work injuries, etc. etc.
At the same time, migrants become a convenient ideological target for the bourgeoisie and its thinkers - the more capitalists import and exploit migrants, the more capitalists and bourgeois governments of countries turn their citizens against them, as if they are “taking away” jobs from the native population. But it is the honorable businessmen who benefit from the existence of migrants! Migration processes are an inevitable consequence of the capitalist economy, which always strives, even at the international level, to save on costs in order to increase profitability. In essence, migrants are workers who are forced to migrate to an imperialist country for the sake of wages and to work in much worse conditions than the rest of the population of the same country. Given all this, can we say that they are in some kind of “privileged position” in relation to the indigenous population of the countries? Obviously not. In fact, the real enemy of both migrants and the indigenous population is capitalism - all the owners and businessmen who “divide” the working class and therefore “rule” over it. The only way to achieve an improvement in the living standards of the entire working class (both native and emigrated) is through class solidarity and the struggle for the liberation of all groups of the working class, which migrants are.
Migration Processes in Contemporary Russia
All this is not some abstract speculation about something that does not concern our everyday life at all. In fact, the migrant issue has not bypassed Russia and is becoming more and more acute in the current situation.
Russia, although it is a minor imperialist state whose economy is strongly tied to oil and gas exports and raw materials, has long been trying to realize its ambitions in the post-Soviet countries, Africa and the Middle East. Russia occupies the role of imperialist, which is especially evident in the post-Soviet countries, whose dependence on it has only grown since February 24, 2022.
Russia is the second largest investor in Uzbekistan's economy (13.8%), and the number of companies with Russian capital has doubled in the last 3 years - but this rather contributes to the entrenchment of Uzbekistan's economy in low-tech sectors and the production of raw materials. Russia's main exports are manufactured goods, transportation equipment and metal, while imports consist of cotton, textiles and food products, for the supply of which a large agro-logistic complex is being built. Concentration on monoculture cotton production, which requires abundant irrigation, has already led to the drying up of the Aral Sea, serious contamination of soils and rivers in the surrounding areas - resulting in a shortage of safe drinking water - only 71% of Uzbekistan's rural population has access to it.
The cotton industry has historically relied on forced and child labor, and while the systematic use of slave labor was ended in 2022 (although officials resorted to coercion again in 2023) and the campaign to boycott Uzbek cotton stopped, working conditions there remain dismal, with wages at best $180 a month compared to the national average of $335. With zero income tax and easy registration of legal entities, Uzbekistan is becoming a target for Russian investment capital. Moreover, Putin and Mirziyoyev met on August 13, 2024, and agreed to take measures to improve the flow of migrants to Russia, as Uzbek families depend heavily on remittances from Russia for their income. These facts clearly reveal Russia's role as a regional imperialist and a center of capital accumulation (and labor force as well) in relation to Uzbekistan.
The situation is similar in the case of Kazakhstan, whose economy is the second largest in the CIS. It is becoming an important sphere of influence for Russia because of its parallel imports and the largest uranium production. Kazakhstan imports mainly finished products such as medicines and sophisticated machinery, while Russia accounts for almost 35% of its imports. Russian companies will be general contractors in the realization of 3 thermal power plants, the financing of which was refused by international banks. The cost of construction is exaggerated and contributes to the external debt to Russia. In addition, the Saryarka gas pipeline connecting Russia and China is being built through Kazakhstan, further strengthening their economic bloc.
In the case of Tajikistan, imperialism is penetrating its economy even more strongly - almost a third of its GDP is made up of migrant remittances, the weakening of the ruble has a significant impact on Tajikistan's welfare:ok. The dependence is so deep that after the terrorist attack in Crocusa, when the persecution began, there were no statements in Tajik on state channels about it - in order not to alarm Tajikistan:ok and to maintain a steady migratory flow.
Russia, like all imperialists, abandons allied countries as soon as other interests appear, showing its increasing inability to cope with the role of incorruptible “peacemaker”. Such is the case of the conflict in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), when Russia suddenly decided not to intervene, even though it had about 2,000 “peacekeepers” on the territory. The point is that interests changed: Turkey, which sees Azerbaijan as its sphere of influence, helped Russia avoid the full impact of European sanctions by organizing parallel imports, and Azerbaijan became important as a trade route to Iran and India.
While Western imperialism relies more on shifting production to post-colonial countries, Russian imperialism relies more on cheap migrant labor - Russia has the 4th largest number of people immigrating to it - 11.6 million - and the 2nd largest labor migration from the EAEU.
Multiple regions of Russia are experiencing population decline, which is offset by an influx of migrants. The coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the inflow because many people were unable to leave Russia without income; also, economic sanctions, coupled with the weakening of the ruble, reduced the real income of migrants. The inflow in 2023 was 23% lower than in 2022. In December 2023, there were 6.3 million labor migrants in Russia, which is less than the average figures by almost 1.5-2 times. The demographic forecast of Rosstat, published in October 2023, presents data according to which the population of the country by the end of 2023 will decrease by almost 268 thousand. The population decline, according to the forecast, will continue to grow until 2027.
The decline in migration has caused labor shortages in several sectors of the economy, especially construction. Officials have consistently stated this: Peskov said that “we are very, very short of these very migrants to realize ambitious plans”; the head of the Ministry of Construction said that “the industry lacks at least 1.2 million construction workers”; the president of the National Association of Builders said “that due to the pandemic, some 24.8% of real estate developers faced a shortage of foreign workers.” Russia has seen a sharp rise in prices in the real estate market. However, the government, unable to cope with the problem of negative population dynamics and realizing the problem of staff shortage, is doing everything to make the living conditions of migrants as disgusting as possible, and fuels nationalist sentiments, which only exacerbates the problem. To combat the shortage of personnel, prison labor is also actively used: according to the Federal Penitentiary Service, as of January 1, 2023, more than 132 thousand convicts were employed in institutions - their labor is forced and extremely low-paid.
As for the composition of migration, 31% come from Tajikistan, 10% from Kyrgyzstan, 9% each from Kazakhstan, Armenia and Ukraine, and 8% from Uzbekistan. There is a significant feminization of migration - 45% are female migrants, changing gender roles with men. That is, if previously it was men who went to work in another country, leaving their families at home, now women are increasingly taking on this role. Migrants work mainly in low-paid sectors that are not occupied by Russians. There is a significant gender differentiation: men work in the trade sector (33%), construction (22%), industrial (18%, this includes laborers, loaders, drivers, cleaners, party pickers); women - as of 2019 - in trade (49%), social and community services (14%) hotels and restaurants (11%), and health care and education. Many women are engaged in “care labor”, working as nannies, caregivers for aging people and people with disabilities and illnesses, providing palliative care - doing all the things that the state has been unable to organize institutionally. This clearly shows that the claim that migrants are taking the jobs of Russians is extremely absurd; they are involved in precarious, low-paid industries that provide Russians with social infrastructure.
According to Bastrykin, chairman of the Investigative Committee, more than 30,000 foreigners who received Russian citizenship and did not register for military service have been identified, and 10,000 of them were sent to the front. Raids are regularly organized to recruit for the army, where migrants are forced under threat of deportation to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry in exchange for expedited citizenship. Some regions of Russia have been disproportionately affected by mobilization - those far from the capital or national republics like Magadan Oblast, Zabaikalsky Krai, and Buryatia. The government is doing its best to create the appearance of stability in the center by mobilizing migrants and people from remote regions.
The situation of migrants in Russia
The media is now filled with screaming news that migrants have had their wages raised so that they are 2 times higher than those of Russians, citing a study by Migrant Service. In addition to the fact that there are many questions about the study itself, from the sample to the methodology, the study itself is simply not available in the public domain. When analyzing the average income of migrants compared to Russian citizens, one has to be extremely careful, because there are differences between industries, and many factors are often not taken into account - unpaid overtime, the risk of workplace injuries and coverage for medical treatment, the difference in the number of days off, and the possibility of receiving free medical services. For example, the general director of a company supplying construction materials writes: “Salaries are being raised throughout the company, we are raising salaries for everyone. Another thing is that it is possible to raise a migrant's salary, but for this salary, which is the same as that of Russians, a migrant can be asked to work longer hours, for example, a 12-hour working day and a six-day week”. Migrant women have a double burden - they often work six days from morning till night, and on their only day off they do the accumulated housework. There are situations when they have to take their children directly to the workplace - for example, this is quite common for migrant women employed in small businesses, such as clothing repair.
In reality, it is true that wages have been raised in the field of production, but not only for migrants, but for everyone in general, due to the acute shortage of labor in this sector of the economy. Historically, such enterprises in Russia have relied on migrant labor, if only because Russians themselves were not employed as industrial workers. This is reported by the CEOs of various industrial companies themselves. High salaries among migrants go to highly qualified specialists in metallurgy and chemistry from Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia (for whom the Ministry of Internal Affairs is even going to simplify the process of entering the country and obtaining certain quotas), where there are currently few Russian specialists - but this does not represent the whole picture even close. Right now, there is a strong lack of research in the field of labor conditions, and there are also methodological difficulties. But according to research for 2019, the average salary of migrants from 2012 to 2017 was around 30,000 with a gap of 25% from the salary of Russian citizens. Now the salary has probably increased due to staff shortages in certain industries, but it is unlikely that the result has changed significantly - including the fact that due to the weakening of the ruble, transfers to their home countries to support their families have become smaller, which hits the budget hard.
As far as industrial injuries are concerned, workers are forced to refuse to formalize compensation, making small payments in the black. At the same time, nothing insures against further dismissal from production because of the loss of “efficiency” of workers due to the seriousness of the production injury - and this situation is characteristic of the entire proletariat in Russia. However, the situation is aggravated for migrants, who are often illegally employed or are more socially vulnerable and disoriented in another country - they do not even need to be dismissed, since they have not been formally employed.
Regarding illegal employment, there is another phenomenon here - namely labor slavery. “Russia is the country of origin, transit and destination of the victims,” writes the Safe House Foundation. Overall, Russia has one of the highest rates of slavery - 13 people per 1,000 (it shares eighth place with
Afghanistan and Kuwait). Passports are taken away to keep slavery in place; police cover up outlets that use slave labor; and facilitate the return of runaways, including by not opening cases if they contact the police - all of which make it nearly impossible to recover from slavery. The ideal victims of recruitment are migrants who are lost and disoriented in a foreign country, who do not always speak Russian, who do not understand their legal position regarding documents (and this is not a problem of illiteracy, but a problem of a confusing system, which may not be navigated by the employees themselves, who miss changes in the law), who do not have relatives specifically within the country to initiate a search. Forced labor is the reality in which we now live, it is close to us and we observe it every day, it is widespread both in Moscow and in small regional cities. Suffice it to recall the high-profile case of the store “Products 24” in Golyanovo (Moscow), where migrants worked, who were constantly tortured, had their children and documents taken away, and were forced to drink alcohol.
In fact, problems with documents lead to terrible consequences - in case of loss of documents or expiration of their term, migrants are placed in TDFCs (Temporary Detention Centers for Foreign Citizens), where they wait for a court decision on deportation/expulsion. Often people end up there as a result of losing their documents by officials or mistakes in court decisions. Until December 25, 2023, the time of detention in the detention center was not limited in any way. People who found themselves there because of minor violations (overdue renewal of temporary registration, for example) could stay there longer than people in colonies for real crimes - that is, for months or years. The situation was aggravated by the fact that, for example, to confirm citizenship the authorities applied directly to the country of origin of the arrested persons - accordingly, the procedure was complicated in case of conflict between countries. And, for example, it became impossible to apply to confirm the citizenship of Ukrainians - and there were no legal ways to regulate the situation.
The conditions of detention in the DCFNIH are similar to prison conditions - small rooms, unsanitary conditions, no access to drinking water, shower and toilet can be in the same room (separated by a curtain and a small partition), no possibility to earn money and spend it - i.e. it is impossible to buy the necessary things. All of this is aggravated by the fact that only concerned people can often carry transmissions (since the family is in another country), and the situation with the DCFNG has received virtually no media coverage. Thanks to the efforts of human rights defenders, it has been possible to limit detention in a DCFN to no more than 90 days and to have judicial control over the extension of the period, as well as some other amendments. But this does not change the fact that the existence of such a structure is discriminatory.
The regime's migration policy and its chain dogs
Historically, Russia has resorted to anti-migrant policies in cases of misaligned geopolitical interests - when it is necessary to strike a blow against an enemy; when there are problems in the country itself - to distract from its own failures, “internal enemies” are created on whom all aggression and dissatisfaction are redirected. This was especially evident during the anti-Georgian campaign of 2006. Due to ethnic cleansing on the territory of Abkhazia during the war between Georgia and Abkhazia, which was at that time its autonomous territory, many Georgians fled to Russia. Subsequently, tensions grew between Georgia and Russia over the status of Abkhazia, which the Georgian president believed was being subjected to “hidden annexation” - what he called Russia's policy of simplifying the process of obtaining citizenship through the exchange of Soviet passports and restoring railroad connections. The conflict escalated when 5 GRU officers were detained in Georgia, 4 of whom were charged with espionage.
From that point on, Russia launched an anti-Georgian campaign that resulted in the expulsion of more than 2,300 people. It was accompanied by the nurturing of nationalist sentiments by the authorities - it was claimed that every hundredth Georgian citizen commits crimes, that they cause significant damage to the Russian economy through remittances to Georgia. There were forced evictions from dormitories (which were actually carried out by seizure), raids on places of work of Georgians, many establishments were closed after such “checks”, both people who were “illegally” and those who had the necessary documents were detained (it is important to understand that the recently released law on foreign citizens did not affect the legal status of migrants already on the territory of Russia - many of whom still had Soviet passports, which made it very difficult to formalize their legal stay). Requests were sent to schools under the pretext of preventing terrorist acts and aggression between Georgian and Moscow children to provide a list of children with Georgian citizenship, characteristics of their behavior at school, and their residential address. One of the indicative terrible results of the campaign was the death due to coronary heart disease of Manana Dzhabelia in the Center for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, while she was in Russia legally.
The practice of directing hatred toward migrants continues in modern Russia as well, especially after February 24, 2022, around the time the Russian Community organization appeared and spread its cells throughout the country. It became the embodiment of neo-Nazi sentiment in Russia, filling the void left by the events of the Crimean spring, when a significant part of the members of such organizations went as volunteers to the eastern regions of Ukraine. The Russian Community, as investigations show, is virtually identical to the Obshchina charitable foundation, which was founded by a pro-government journalist, coordinator of the pro-life movement, and a person with influence in the Russian Orthodox Church. Tens of millions are transferred to its account.
It consolidates all the non-banned right-wing initiatives like Northern Man, Forty Forty, etc. This happens around the fight against migrants - which they carry out together with law enforcers (and even agitate their members to join the police), becoming their tool on the ground: they help organize raids during which detentions take place, military registration and forcing them to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
Although their participation in raids is already outgrowing simple organization - community members are increasingly checking the legality of retail outlets, detaining “criminals,” and conducting investigations. This “delegation” of authority is also due to the fact that law enforcers are moving to work in the new “annexed” territories, where salaries are higher. Raids extend not only to places of work, but also to universities and hospitals. “The Russian Community” has even created an app where you can notify all members of the community where there is a ‘conflict’ with migrants to come for reinforcements.
However, their actions are not limited to this. “Russian Community” organizes lectures with Roman Silantiev, the developer of the pseudoscience of destructology, which served as a justification for the imprisonment of the director of ”The Finist of the Clear Falcon” Evgeniya Berkovich*** and playwright Svetlana Petriichuk*** (listed as terrorists and extremists***), conducts militarist-oriented struggle activities, assembles weapons specifically in areas most populated by migrants, and teaches knife fighting to children. “Russian Community” postulates the struggle against diaspora enclaves, although in practice no such enclaves are formed. So far, its members have not launched open attacks, although the training is clearly aimed at further use of force in the fight against migrants.
But instead of the Russian Community, neo-Nazi teenagers appealing to the aesthetics of 2000s Nazi skinheads are terrorizing migrants. Between January and July, the NMVP project recorded 678 video-documented attacks, 429 of them on people. The neo-Nazis attack anyone who doesn't even remotely fit the idea of “Slavic” appearance, the homeless, and those with suspected addictions. The attacks are carried out in groups, pepper spray, batons and brass knuckles are used. However, little is known about their ideological views.
Neo-Nazi attacks are not limited to migrants: victims include people who are read as Queers** (declared an extremist organization on the territory of the Russian Federation**), representatives of subcultures or ideological opponents - leftists, anarchists and, of course, communists. These groups for the most part do not interact with the “Russian Community” because they despise it for its connection to the regime - but they use its resources in purely utilitarian ways, such as through combat training. However, we can already say with certainty that the communities and such groups work in line with the state authorities. When they do not obey the authorities, they are fought against.
Despite the instrumentalization of the community by law enforcement agencies, law enforcers still indicate strict subordination in the framework of their interaction - for example, in May, coordinators of regional cells were detained for trying to resolve a conflict between a teacher and a child from Azerbaijan, another time community members were fined for spreading inaccurate news.
But there are also conflicts within the law enforcement agencies over the actions of the Russian Community, whose interaction with the community is not as contradictory as it might seem. On August 19, about 30 community members came to St. Petersburg at the call of a cab driver of the Avilon LLC company, a citizen of Tajikistan, to resolve a conflict between cab drivers over the order of transportation. Some of the community members were detained, left overnight in police stations, and charged with petty hooliganism.
The community members were outraged and appealed to the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Bastrykin, who initiated criminal proceedings for abuse of power against the police. The prosecutor's office canceled the ruling, but the Investigative Committee reopened the case. The community members themselves are outraged that the public accuses them of “roofing” the business and portray themselves as victims of “ethnic gangs”, claiming that they originally came to protect “Russian guys” (as they thought of the Avilon cab driver) from “illegal immigrants” from Dagestan.
In their publications, community members often accuse officials and law enforcement agencies of being corrupt if they do something wrong to “Russians” or the “Russian Community”. Thus, the position of the authorities with regard to such structures is very clear - do free work for law enforcement agencies that lack resources and in no case allow them to be independent.
On the website of the “Russian Community” it is written that it seeks to unite the Russian population, to provide mutual support, to promote solidarization and the development of non-economic relations in times of global crises, atomization of society and the cult of individualism. They propose to do this through the revival of the communal movement, which, they say, is a new form not yet enshrined by the state. The communalists oppose liberal ideology, advocate the preservation of traditional values, and consider themselves “the flesh of the great Eastern Christian civilization.”
The organization tries to exercise a certain therapeutic function, to offer solutions to problems in a situation of an objective ever-worsening economic situation. For this purpose it uses right-wing populist rhetoric, partly criticizing the state authorities. At the same time, it uses discourses of power about deep spirituality, centuries-old tradition and a special path, redirecting anger at the “collective West” - supposedly the source of all problems.
The right-wing movements of the 2000s and 2010s differed in their views and in the question of cooperation with the regime, many of them rather oriented towards fighting it. They were uncontrollable, and the authorities had to negotiate with individual spontaneous leaders. This resulted in situations that were problematic for the regime. Having learned from this experience, the authorities now use a different approach - the Russian Community was initially created by the regime and acts in accordance with it, despite all the populist pathos criticizing liberalism.
Thus, it becomes a convenient tool for ideological processing, simultaneously distancing itself from the authorities - postulated organization from below, cooperation, etc. - but fully copying its agenda and working closely with the police. Right-wing organizations that refuse to side with the regime quickly get in trouble with the law - and are thus liquidated by the authorities. Interestingly, the position actually broadcast by the Russian Community perfectly reflects where Russia is within the capitalist system - on the one hand, subject to imperialist influence and experiencing an “inferiority complex”, which is expressed in an over-concentration on its own cultural achievements with obvious selective borrowing of Western cultural achievements - and on the other hand, exerting imperialist influence on the CIS countries and other zones of influence.
A curious moment was a series of splits in the “Russian Community” - the organization “Russian Druzhina” separated from it. The channel revealed some of the reasons for the split - much was said about the authoritarianism of the organization, which is not surprising, but here we are interested in the contradictions in goal-setting - “Russian Druzhina” is more focused on consolidation with law enforcement agencies and, as opposed to “point assistance to Russian people and protection from illegal actions of migrants,” proposes to focus on a complete cleanup of cities from migrants and greater support for the course of the authorities.
In addition, community members come to the new “annexed” territories, support the events of February 24, and provide humanitarian aid. Community members say that they cannot bear “non-Slavs”, when “Russians are all crippled”. when “Russians are all maimed, risking their lives” - although as mentioned above ethnic minorities have suffered greatly as a result of mobilization. The “Russian community” fits perfectly into the ideological mainstream and helps to attract people to the front by forcibly recruiting migrants, which creates at least some semblance of stability for the so-called state-forming people.
Thus, financed by the authorities, the Russian Community is a strictly subordinate tool of the regime, which uses it to fill the deficit in the security forces, ideological propaganda, nurturing right-wing sentiments and fighting internal enemies. Given its explicitly militarist training and connection to “SWO participants,” the movement will pose a clear threat to the leftist resistance, which will need to change its work in order to exist in the new conditions - when the security apparatus focuses on repression, leaving the function of restoring order to right-wing organizations. However, it is important to understand that the authorities will not allow the community to be self-activated and will only fund it and support its development as long as it acts within the framework of its agenda - other right-wing and openly Nazi organizations are not given such freedom and their activities are strictly suppressed.
The Crocus terrorist attack intensified neo-Nazi sentiment, and the security forces legitimized the violence with a showdown and torture captured on video. This triggered a surge in attacks from March to May and raids (566 raids in Tatarstan alone from March 22 to April 16, and a total of 40000 foreigners deported from Russia in six months). The broadcasted rhetoric regarding the terrorist attack intensified Islamophobia.
For example, the chairman of the Presidential Council has called for a ban on the niqab, and Russians express hatred toward covered women, appealing to the terrorist attacks of the 2000s. Raids on houses of worship are carried out on a regular basis - during namaz, OMON with a detachment of 20-30 people broke in, and there was an attack with tear gas. There was also a case when they prevented the reading of namaz by saying that all houses of worship in the neighborhood were closed due to a report of a bomb threat. The Russian Community is also involved in these Islamophobic campaigns. But in addition to Islamophobia, there are also anti-Semitic speeches related to the war between Israel and Palestine - but they are limited to the territory of the North Caucasus.
Recently, legislation regarding migrants has become increasingly discriminatory. The State Duma in the second and third readings adopted amendments to the law “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation” - the term of temporary stay was reduced from 180 to 90 days, the law obliges migrants not to interfere in the internal and foreign policy of Russia, the expulsion regime is defined, providing for certain restrictions on freedoms - it will be prohibited to purchase real estate, apply for loans, move freely around the country, open a bank account, get married, and the list does not end there.
The expulsion regime will apply to migrants whose documents have expired or who have committed an offense - they will be put on the register of controlled persons. At the same time, the law provides for broad powers for the police - to invade a place of residence without a court decision, administrative expulsion will be possible without a court decision, and placement in a DCFN for 48 hours will also be possible without a court decision. Only the approval of the Federation Council and the president remains for the law to be passed. More than 30 regions have banned migrants from working in areas ranging from trade and agriculture to education and transportation. Such measures are justified by concern for the improvement of the economic situation of Russians and for security. In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to expand the list of articles under which expulsion is envisaged, and proposed a corresponding draft. Foreigners who are potentially subject to expulsion are placed in the DCFOR. According to the Interior Ministry, in the first quarter of 2024, the number of people in DCFRCs rose from 3,426 to 6,881, up from only 1,221 in 2021. All deportation centers are staffed by recruiters who offer to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry in exchange for Russian citizenship - the goal of increasing the number of people placed in DCFNGs is very clear.
What rhetoric do the authorities use to justify their criminal actions against migrants and how do they encourage neo-Nazi aggression? The Interior Ministry has published statistics on crime in 2023 - crime among foreign citizens and stateless people has decreased by 3%, and according to the analysis of Civic Assistance* (included in the register of foreign agents*), the crime rate for a number of articles has reached historic lows. Nevertheless, various representatives of the authorities falsify data, speaking about the growth of crime among migrants, and the chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said that the number of rapes has increased by 40%, at the legal forum he again especially emphasized “sex crimes” - this example perfectly shows that the authorities are aiming at the sore spot for incitement of hatred - the protection of traditional values and families, which were first threatened by transgender people** adopting and adopting Russian children with special developmental needs, then by LGBT+** (declared an extremist organization). No one really cares about real violence against women and children - the risk of being subjected to violence from relatives is much higher, and there is no effort to pass a law on domestic violence. In addition to falsifying data, the authorities resort to slogans that openly call for violence. For example, a lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs called for “brightening” the Moscow region so that it would not be “blackened” by migrants.
Anti-migrant policies also affect ethnic groups in Russia who do not conform to notions of “Russian appearance” - yet they also face discrimination in their own republics. Xenophobia towards “non-Slavs” has a long history and should be the subject of a separate article. Here we should also note that even before the rise of neo-Nazi sentiments, representatives of ethnic groups faced problems in renting housing, obtaining necessary medical care, getting into university dormitories, domestic violence and constant open verbal xenophobic aggression. The current anti-migrant policy puts them in an even more vulnerable position, as neo-Nazis confuse ethnic peoples of Russia with migrants, which increases the risk of attack, and they are also more likely to be stopped by police, for example, in the subway to check their documents because of their “oriental” appearance, and all the already existing problems are exacerbated.
The policy towards migrants is extremely contradictory - on the one hand, the importance of friendship between peoples is postulated, the need to increase the flow of migrants to eliminate the deficit in the labor market, and increasingly close ties are established with CIS and African countries, while on the other hand, nationalism is encouraged, more and more measures worsening the situation of migrants are introduced, Islamophobia is broadcast, and mass expulsions and raids are carried out. In some ways, this is not entirely surprising, given Russia's Bonapartist regime, in which the president rises above the classes, trying to maneuver between the interests of different groups - for example, he establishes trade links and attracts cheap labor, which helps to enrich the ruling elite, but allows some amateurism by organizations such as the Russian Community, giving a controlled outlet for existing neo-Nazi sentiments. Another important point regarding migrant policy is recruitment to the front, carried out through raids by the “Russian Community” and placement in the DCFRC.
Our positive program
So - we have gotten to the bottom of the roots of the migrant question; how this problem arose specifically in the post-Soviet space; what is the situation of migrants in Russia and what is the regime's policy towards migrants. We need all this for a reason - our task is “not to cry, not to laugh, but to understand” - to analyze reality and, on the basis of our scientific analysis of it, to draw up a positive program of actions and demands with the help of which we are going to solve the emigrant question once and for all, not on paper, but in practice.
Of course, we understand that a comprehensive solution to the problems surrounding labor migration is impossible within the framework of the capitalist system, just like the resolution of class contradictions as such. But advancing these ideas, continuously equalizing the rights of all workers regardless of nationality, and fighting for the progressive demands outlined below will help unite the working class and bring us as close as possible to resolving both the migrant question and the workers' question as a whole.
As mentioned above, there needs to be an equalization of rights and opportunities for migrant and local workers. For business and bureaucrats, this division and inequality of workers is extremely important. It allows workers to direct their anger at each other. Difficulties in obtaining a residence permit push migrants to illegal residence in the Russian Federation and, as a consequence, to unofficial employment and a low standard of living. There will be a migrant flow one way or another as long as capitalism exists, and this even has a positive effect on the Russian economy; but profitability does not always go hand in hand with the interests of the majority of the population - capitalists also benefit from all those laws that reduce migrants to the level of “inferior people” and allow them to be exploited more and more harshly (through unofficial employment and stay in the country), and this has a negative impact not only on the lives of migrants.
Migrant workers are forced to work for less pay and benefits, because their de facto, semi-legal position allows the employer to get rid of a person who has decided to fight for his rights with minimal effort. A striking example is the janitors' strike in 2019, as a result of which the participants of the march to the administration demanding legal wage payments were accused of administrative violations and promptly deported from the country. For workers with citizenship, this situation is also harmful, as the employer can replace the worker with cheaper labor at any time. Thus, workers are limited in their ability to advocate for improvements in their working conditions and living standards. At the same time, these circumstances are actively used by business and the state to foment hostility between workers, bringing to the forefront the need to fight labor migrants and thus diverting attention from the role of parasitic owners.
Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a unified wage grid; at all enterprises, including private ones - transparent accounting for all employees. Prohibition of all forms of non-standard employment, overtime. And the process of obtaining residence permit and residence permit should be simplified. The very concept of the national state and national border in the modern world serves only the interests of dividing the working class and providing profit to the nomenklatura and business, and citizenship and residence permits are needed only as a tool to regulate the number of the working class - as soon as it is necessary to expand production, the borders are opened and the process of registration of legal status is simplified, and as soon as there is a crisis situation, the “surplus” of workers is barbarously got rid of.
The vulnerable situation of migrants unleashes not only business, but also government officials. In recent months, it has become “normal” to see news reports about the recruitment and sending of persons with foreign citizenship to the front lines. Under the pretext of further simplified citizenship and high salaries, Russian authorities send workers to defend their imperial ambitions. The alternative to signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense is actually deportation. As mentioned above, this mechanism is carried out, among other things, through detention in DCFRCs - we advocate for the elimination of such centers.
We see the impact of this oppressive situation not only in the workplace, but in all aspects of life. For example, enrolling migrant children in kindergarten can be difficult because registration is required, but many landlords refuse to register them. In order to solve the problems with kindergartens, it is also necessary to simplify the overall registration of stay in Russia, as there are now many illegal migrants due to the insensitive system, but who work and have no social guarantees.
Another problem that hits both migrant workers and the working class in general is the inaccessibility of housing. Due to their unequal status, migrants do not actually have access to normal housing. At the behest of government policy, they are most often denied rental housing or put in a more disadvantaged position. At this time, the Ministry of Construction constantly reports on the grandiose successes in the field of housing construction. Thus, from 2020 to 2024, 417.3 million square meters of housing was built. However, a significant part of it remains unsold and idle.
This is a consequence of the chaos and the pursuit of profit, which is created by private companies and monopolies. If they were under working control and worked under a unified plan to meet the need for housing, it would be possible to provide for those in need already now. The establishment of hostels in companies should also be considered - this should take into account the cases of casual employment, such as that of migrant women in “care work”. All workers should have the right to normal living conditions.
All these actions are not unimaginable. But it is not enough for them to impose - even the most progressive - taxation on the ever-rich elites of society. While oligarchs, corporations, and big businessmen report new profits and sociologists report new records of growing social inequality, the working class is being forced to overwork, overwork, live in constant poverty, and save more and more every year.
Even in times of global crises, while screaming about the lack of money for social assistance, capitalists manage to increase their wealth - so in the pandemic period from 2020, 63% of all new wealth was appropriated by the richest 1% of people. We are told there are no extra funds, calling us demagogues and populists. But while most people are told to be patient, the costs of maintaining the police and military apparatus are skyrocketing, which in the end in no way leads to the enrichment of society. To all those “savvy entrepreneurs”, bankers and people in uniform we must say: nationalize them all - not a penny in compensation for these fat parasites! It's time to democratically plan the economy for the benefit of the majority, not the billionaires!