Discriminatory rhetoric against migrants remains high in Russia. Gulnara Derbisheva, director of Insan-Leilek Public Foundation, stated at a roundtable discussion dedicated to the International Migrants Day.

According to her, the list of those banned from entering Russia has grown sharply during the pandemic.

«Unfortunately, the discriminatory rhetoric in the Russian Federation remains high. During the pandemic, they began to say that migrants violate public order, called for action. Then the list of persons who are prohibited from entering the Russian Federation increased sharply,» Gulnara Derbisheva said.

She noted that 30 percent of Kyrgyz labor migrants in Russia work illegally.

«When we initiated creation of trade union of migrants, the Ministry of Justice refused to register us. They stated that migrant is not a profession. Therefore, we had to register as a public association. In a very short time, we were able to get salary of 6 million rubles for 6,000 families of our migrants through individual negotiations with employers,» she said.