MOSCOW, June 13 (UPI) -- Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for tougher measures against illegal immigrants.
"The city currently has about 300,000 illegal migrants. If we take away crimes committed by visitors, Moscow will become the most law-abiding city in the world," Sobyanin said.
Sobyanin's comments came after Putin instructed law enforcement officials Monday to focus on ethnically aligned criminal groups and illegal immigration.
He also called for a new migration policy, RIA Novosti said.
"We are ready to attract qualified foreign specialists," he said. "But these people should be adapted to life in Russia, should know the Russian language, the history of our country, the basics of our laws, and respect our traditions."
Although Russia depends on migrant laborers, negative opinions about the migrants' effects on crime rates and employment opportunities have escalated in the past decade, RIA Novosti said.
About 60 percent of Russia's 5 million migrant workers are in the country illegally, the Federal Migration Service said.
