MOSCOW, July 29 (UPI) -- Nearly 15,000 foreign nationals who have repeatedly violated Russian laws have been barred from entering the country, officials say.
The Moscow Directorate of the Federal Migration Service says that's three times more than the same period last year, RIA Novosti reported Monday.
The dramatic increase is a result of the FMS instituting tougher measures after it said about 60 percent of Russia's 5 million migrant workers were in the country illegally.
Former Soviet republics in Central Asia are the source of most foreign workers in Moscow. They are allowed to enter the country without a visa.
Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin last month said about 300,000 illegals live in the city.
Stepped-up police checks of more than 26,000 commercial and social facilities in Moscow since January have prevented more than 88,900 violations of immigration laws, said Olga Kirillova, FMS' Moscow bureau chief.
Migration is a complex issue for Russia. A poll released last week by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion found Russians fear migration by foreign nationals more than terrorism. At the same time, the country needs more young workers to replace its aging workforce.
