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| THIS IS WHAT MOST RUSSIANS WANT DONE TO MUSLIM :DEPORTATION |
Russia's immigration issues would be familiar to Americans: Millions of impoverished migrants have come and found low-wage jobs. Some are in Russia illegally and are exploited by their employers. And a growing number of Russians fear this influx of migrants, many of whom are Muslim, is changing the face of the country.
Some worry that Muslims from Central Asia will spread religious extremism. And many say migrants don't understand Russia's customs or speak the language well.
Every day, trains and planes arrive from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Belarus and other former Soviet republics, filled with migrants looking for what they can't find at home: steady work.
They are not always welcome.
Sergey Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, says the capital is a Russian city — not Chinese, Tajik or Uzbek — and it should stay that way. He is campaigning for re-election this fall, with a promise to limit the influx of foreign workers.
In a recent opinion poll of 1,000 Muscovites, 55 percent said the number of migrants in the city is a major problem, according to the Levada Center, a nongovernmental research group.
Some worry that Muslims from Central Asia will spread religious extremism. And many say migrants don't understand Russia's customs or speak the language well.
"I didn't even know how to say 'bread,' " says Alik, an Uzbek. "But little by little, you can learn. I watched TV. I played on the computer. The rest came over time. You can meet girls. To be honest, girls teach you quickly."
Like many migrants, Alik travels back and forth each year to his home in Uzbekistan, where he has a wife and two children. He works as a house painter and shares a room in Moscow with two other men.
Life is good in Russia, he says, as long as you have your documents in order.
For illegal migrants, though, the risks are high. The authorities frequently conduct raids where migrants live and work.
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http://www.kuow.org/post/migrants-flock-russia-receive-cool-welcome
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