Mechanisms for regulating external labor migration within the framework of the existing functionality of the regions of the Russian Federation

Burda Mikhail Aleksandrovich PhD in Politics Associate Professor; Department of Political Science and Political Management; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 115142, Russia, Moscow, Kolomenskaya str., 9, sq. 132 byrdamix@mail.ru

Introduction

Modern states regulate migration processes using various mechanisms, such as the visa regime, quotas, work permits and other tools aimed at controlling the number of external migrants. This is especially true in conditions of economic instability or a crisis in the labor market. The regulation of external labor migration is a complex and multifactorial process that includes a number of specific practices and approaches. These practices depend on the economic, social and political realities of each country, as well as on the needs of the labor market. For example, in conditions of labor shortages in certain industries, such as construction or agriculture, States can facilitate the conditions for attracting foreign workers, while limiting their employment opportunities in industries where the needs of the labor market are covered by domestic resources. At the same time, the state is trying to maintain a balance in this issue, where, of course, ensuring national security and stability in society is the most important task of the state as a whole.

Conducting a special military operation, confrontation with the countries of the "collective West", and the existing public demand require the development of new approaches to the principles of formation and implementation of state migration policy, which should be not so much conceptual, but more strategic. The strategy of the state migration policy of the Russian Federation should solve global problems related to the inconsistency of external migration with the migration needs of the labor market, regional development, demographic potential and public demand for security ^[1],[3],[11].

The current trend towards securitization of migration policy and migration processes was outlined in the wake of the global European migration crisis of 2015-2016, which clearly demonstrated the risks of mass external migration and the consequences for the state receiving such flows ^[10], which was also reflected in studies devoted to modeling a similar situation in the Russian Federation ^[12],[14].

The migration problem is one of the key threats to the socio-political stability of the country. To solve it, coordinated efforts at the state level and the adoption of serious decisions in the interests of citizens are necessary. In addition, in order to maintain a balance of interests in the current situation, the state needs to take into account the opinion of those people who see a tendency to worsen interethnic relations.

Materials and methods

The analysis of data from the FSB of Russia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia posted on the portal of the Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System (EMISS), as well as expert assessments and research, suggest that the Russian Federation in the post-pandemic period demonstrates quantitative trends in the restoration of external labor migration, which is formed at the expense of the labor resources of such states as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan ^[2],[4].

Speaking about the political and legal aspect of regulating external migration, it should be noted that despite the critical understanding of regional practices of managing external migration, which, according to A.N. Zherebtsov, is due to the problem of the lack of codification of the migration sphere, the lack of a single normative legal act allowing for the delimitation of powers between regions and the federal center ^[6], at the regional level, the subjects The Russian Federation is endowed with a number of significant powers to implement migration policy.

Institutionally, they can establish their own specific regulatory rules for migrants on their territory, in order to ensure the security of the subject, its balanced economic development. At the same time, acts of federal executive authorities also belong to the regional level, which also establish regulations for the residence and entry of migrants into certain regions of the country, as well as conceptualize a demographic development plan in certain regions. Also, this level of migration policy formation includes declarative acts – strategies, concepts that are developed and published by the authorities of subjects implementing executive functions, including in the field of migration, and which enshrine the basic principles, goals and measures, including migration policy. These powers are formulated within the framework of Federal Law No. 414-FZ dated 12/21/2021 "On General Principles of the Organization of Public Power in the Subjects of the Russian Federation".

In addition, the subjects of the Russian Federation are empowered to regulate participation in the State Program to facilitate the voluntary resettlement to the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad ^[7],[13], and are also empowered to regulate the presence of foreign citizens in the regional labor market ^[2].

Results and their discussion

In accordance with paragraph 6 of Article 18.1 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ dated 07/25/2002 "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation", the powers of the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation are provided, giving the right to establish a ban on the involvement of business entities operating in the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens engaged in labor activity, according to certain types of economic activity, taking into account the regional characteristics of the labor market and the need for priority employment of citizens of the Russian Federation. This practice covers more than 35 Russian regions by the middle of 2024.

It should be noted that for the first time such restrictive practices were noted back in the period 2013-2016, when separate bans were introduced in the Amur, Magadan and Sakhalin regions, as well as in the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia. At the same time, if at the initial stage such restrictions were imposed primarily on foreign workers from both the PRC and the DPRK, then later they were transferred to immigrants from CIS member states working in the Russian Federation on the basis of a patent.

Currently, it is possible to identify some areas of economic activity where temporary employment of foreign citizens is recognized as excessive and inexpedient, and existing vacancies are fully filled at the expense of available labor resources – retail and wholesale trade, provision of various services, passenger and freight transportation, taxis, catering, food production, education, and as well as employment and recruitment.

The practice of the imposed restrictions seems to be quite different, it is usually due to the peculiarities of the regional employment structure, which is more evident in the example of the Southern, Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts. At the same time, in the Central, Northwestern, Volga and Ural Federal Districts, bans on attracting foreign citizens are less systematic and, as a rule, are due to the peculiarities of existing factors of social tension and public demand for regional authorities. None of the subjects of the Russian Federation has introduced such bans in the North Caucasus Federal District, which is due to the low level of overall migration attractiveness, high (above the national average) demographic indicators, as well as the sectoral structure of the labor market and industry.

In order to determine the sectors of economic activity to which it is advisable to extend such restrictions, it is necessary to analyze the regional labor market, which requires the development of appropriate criteria for its assessment related to the general indicators of the regional labor market and the available workforce, both local workers and external migrants, including foreign citizens.

In accordance with Federal Law No. 115-FZ dated 07/25/2002 "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation" and Order No. 730 of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation dated 10/23/2023 "On the Establishment of Deflator Coefficients for 2024" (Registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on 11/20/2023 No. 76021), the authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation have the right to establish a regional coefficient allowing to increase or decrease the cost of the patent (the federal base coefficient is set annually by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation).

If the regional coefficient for the next calendar year is not established by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation, its value is assumed to be equal to 1 in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 227.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The regulation of the cost of patents in the direction of increasing the regional coefficient is also a fairly effective restrictive instrument for regulating external labor migration in the subject of the Russian Federation.

As another restrictive mechanism available for regulating external labor migration at the regional level, the possibility of introducing a complete ban on the issuance of patents on the territory of a separate subject of the Russian Federation should be considered

This possibility is provided for in paragraph 3 of Article 13.3 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ dated 07/25/2002 "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation" and Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated 11/01/2017 No. 828 "On Approval of the Procedure for Making a Decision to Suspend the Grant of a Patent in the Territory of a Subject of the Russian Federation" (Registered with the Ministry of Justice of Russia on 01/23/2018 No. 49741). The Regional Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, on the basis of a reasoned appeal received from the head of the executive authority of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, has the right to completely stop issuing patents.

Such an appeal to the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is justified by the forecast of the socio-economic development of the subject and the approval of the regional tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations, formed in accordance with Article 35 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Restrictions imposed in the subject of the Russian Federation on the involvement of foreign citizens in certain types of economic activity, an increase in the cost of patents allow to reduce the volume of external labor migration to a certain extent, streamline this process and identify certain areas where temporary attraction of foreign labor can be justified.

In order to ensure compliance with the actual declared needs (vacancies) available in the Russian labor market to the subjects of the Russian Federation, it is advisable to consider the possibility of developing regional programs for the organized attraction of foreign workers to specific employers, followed by the departure of such workers from the territory of the Russian Federation after the expiration of the employment contract.

The organized recruitment of foreign citizens for temporary employment is an important part of the modern economy, ensuring that the needs of the labor market are met in the context of globalization and migration processes. In modern conditions, many industries, such as agriculture, construction, hotel and restaurant business, face a shortage of labor. In this context, the involvement of foreign workers becomes an urgent and necessary measure.

The organization of recruitment of foreign citizens involves a number of stages, starting from determining the needs of the employer and the legal grounds for attracting foreign specialists and ending with the paperwork process and the adaptation of employees to a new place. An important aspect is compliance with all legal norms and rules, both of the host country and the recipient country.

In order to successfully implement programs to attract foreign workers, it is necessary to take into account the cultural, linguistic and social characteristics that they may encounter when applying for employment. Therefore, it is important to provide high-quality information support and adaptation programs that will help foreigners join the team faster and understand the specifics of the local labor market. In addition, it is necessary to develop cooperation between government agencies, employers and specialized employment agencies. This will create effective mechanisms for the regular exchange of information on vacancies and qualifications required to perform certain types of work.

Within the framework of Russian legislation, enterprises with an average number of employees from 100 people and an income of more than 800 million rubles can act as participants in the selection process, while citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan can act as persons involved in the organized recruitment process in accordance with concluded international agreements. In this regard, it should be noted that such a practice of concluding bilateral international agreements on organized recruitment is quite proven and effective ^[8].

An alternative mechanism for implementing this approach is the creation of unitary enterprises and their representative offices abroad within the framework of public-private partnership ^[9], the founders of which can be both the state and its subjects engaged in targeted recruitment of employees with the necessary qualifications. At the same time, it should be noted that currently a Russian employer does not have mechanisms to protect its interests in terms of relations with foreign citizens whom it has attracted in an organized recruitment process, in terms of their subsequent dismissal at their own request and transfer to another employer or field of activity ^[5].

Conclusion and conclusions

The mechanisms of various restrictions considered in the framework of this study collectively represent an alternative to the adopted economic and demographic approach within the framework of the development of a segregationist model of migration policy, characteristic and successfully applied by such states as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, which allows us to solve the following tasks in the field of improving the efficiency of management of the state migration policy of the Russian Federation, namely:

- to ensure the real need of the national (regional) labor market for foreign labor in the ratio of not only the declared vacancies (qualitative criteria), but also the capabilities (readiness) of employers (quantitative criteria);

- to prevent the risks of social and interethnic tension, as well as the tendency of ethnocultural substitution of the local population by ensuring the return of temporary labor migration;

- to increase the level of transparency in relations between public authorities, employers and foreign citizens, and to protect the interests of the parties to such trilateral cooperation.

- decriminalize migration processes in terms of increasing the effectiveness of countering illegal labor migration, the spread of ideas of terrorism and religious extremism, as well as crime among foreign citizens.

The conducted research allowed us to confirm the thesis about the existing request for securitization of Russia's migration policy, which is most evident in the example of certain restrictive measures taken by subjects taking into account the public request to strengthen the control functions of authorities.

In some cases, this may lead to a shortage of labor resources in certain areas of economic activity, but these problems can be successfully overcome within the framework of the implementation of a new model of external labor migration, which implies the development of organized recruitment mechanisms.