Russian minister says more needs to be done to help migrants integrate
Moscow, 19 January: Russian Culture Minister Aleksandr Avdeyev believes that migrants need to be afforded social protection.
"Migrants need to be taught, and they need to be afforded social protection. Migrants are mercilessly exploited here, they have no guaranteed healthcare, they don't have normal pay, they're fleeced and they're robbed," Avdeyev told the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Wednesday (19 January).
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He noted that the migrant problem had been neglected and hasn't been addressed in decades.
"My French colleagues often said to me: Aleksandr, make use of our mistakes, learn from them, because otherwise it might be too late, so deal with the migrant problem as a matter of urgency, ensuring all their rights but, naturally, also forcing them to observe Russian laws, moral standards and customs," Avdeyev said.
In his opinion, if we admit migrants into our country, we must "integrate" them into society, and "teach them Russian".
(passage omitted: remarks by Avdeyev on the same issue in 2009)
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