The comments by Putin are the latest in a series of remarks by senior Russian officials highlighting the risks of under-regulated migration, and drawing a link between migration and extremism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin identified a number of key public safety concerns Monday, instructing officials to focus on extremism, ethnically aligned criminal groups and illegal migration, following a pattern in which Russian officials have been suggesting a link between the three.
“Among the key tasks facing the law enforcement authorities, I would single out … the fight against ethnic and religious extremism. We must harshly suppress the activities of organized criminal groups formed along ethnic lines,” Putin told a meeting of senior security officials, according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website.
“We should also fully implement our decisions regarding the struggle with illegal migration, including the tightening of relevant laws,” he added a bit later.
The meeting, in which Putin also called for better road safety and concrete deliverables instead of bureaucratic jargon, focused on socioeconomic development. It was attended by the ministers of defense, interior, foreign affairs, justice and emergency situations.
Russia depends heavily on migrant laborers, mostly from former Soviet republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus, but public opinion about their effects on crime rates and employment opportunities has gotten more negative over the past decade.
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