RUSSIA’S MIGRATION POLICY: BARRIERE AND PROHIBITIONS FOR LABOR MIGRANT WORKERS

Abstract

This article examines the complex set of legal, administrative, digital, and economic barriers that shape a discriminatory environment for labor migrants in the Russian Federation. Particular attention is given to the role of the state not as a guarantor of rights, but as a source of systemic restrictions designed to produce a vulnerable and dependent workforce. The analysis focuses on formal prohibitions on certain types of employment; limited access to healthcare, education, housing rights, and family life; as well as economic instruments of pressure — quotas, rising patent fees, and regional and temporal limitations on residence and work. The article also explores emerging mechanisms of digital surveillance, including the proposed mandatory registration of migrants via a mobile application that collects geolocation and biometric data, and the inclusion of individuals in a “registry of monitored persons” as a form of administrative control. The author argues that these restrictions constitute an integrated system of “managed dependency” that deepens social marginalization and hinders the integration of migrants. The article further situates these developments within the broader political and ideological context of Russia’s increasingly restrictive migration policy, highlighting its contradictions with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and international human rights standards. The conclusion emphasizes the need to acknowledge the discriminatory nature of the current policy regime and to revise approaches to labor migration governance in line with the principles of non-discrimination, legal equality, and human dignity.