Press Release, August 11, 2013
On August 11, candidate for Moscow Mayor Sergei Mitrokhin visited the tent camp for illegal immigrants in Moscow’s Golyanovo district. As a result of the inspection he considered the conditions at the camp satisfactory. Mitrokhin is determined to find out the names of the illegal immigrants’ employers and achieve the institution of the criminal proceeding against them.
Sergei Mitrokhin, YABLOKO’s activists and the journalists examined the tents, portable toilets, shower rooms and chow wagons which the immigrants use. Mitrokhin stated that the quality of food they get now is much better than it was before the illegal immigrants were placed at the camp, but the food is monotonous and it’s not enough for the wholesome diet of an adult. The doctors assured Sergei Mitrokhin that all the illegal immigrants at the camp are healthy.
At present most of the illegal immigrants at the camp are Vietnamese. Moreover, the citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Syria and Kirgizstan are awaiting the deportation. YABLOKO’s inspection didn’t manage to find any illegal immigrants who spoke Russian. According to a security guard, about 600 hundred people were held at the camp at the moment. Between 30 and 40 illegal immigrants are deported from Russia daily. This way 31 people were sent home yesterday.
“Tens of millions of roubles from the federal budget will be poured onto exclusion of the illegal immigrants, but this will be useless if their employers aren’t prosecuted”, said Sergei Mitrokhin summarising the results of the inspection. YABLOKO leader is determined to find out the employers of the illegal immigrants who worked in the Moscow Golyanovo district via the Investigative Committee and make the law-enforcement agencies bring criminal action against those employers under the article 322.1 “Organisation of illegal immigration” and the article 127.2 “The use of slave labour” of the Criminal Code of Russia.

Mitrokhin also said that he would bring the situation at the dormitory for the guest workers situated at number 8 Irtishsky Second Passage under his control. 1200 illegal immigrants lived there before the roundups started, those immigrants made the majority among the inhabitants of the tent camp. “If the employers aren’t prosecuted, the root of evil won’t be pulled out. The deported immigrants will come back or the new illegal immigrants will take their places. So, everything will turn out to be another election PR”, concluded Sergei Mitrokhin.