Summary: The draft law proposes establishing administrative deportation for discrimination related to violating a person's legitimate rights, freedoms, and interests based on sex, race, skin color, nationality, language, age, attitude to religion, and other circumstances.

The Russian State Duma is discussing this month a draft law that expands the list of administrative violations requiring deportation of foreigners, in addition to imposing an administrative fine to remove them from Russia, in a blatant attempt to find and develop a legal tool for racial discrimination and xenophobia in Russia, which in the Soviet era raised slogans of international brotherhood and equality among people regardless of their origin, race, religion, and nationality.

Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that the draft law aims to increase the number of articles requiring deportation in the Russian Administrative Offenses Code from 22 to 45.

The draft law proposes establishing administrative deportation for discrimination related to violating a person's legitimate rights, freedoms, and interests based on sex, race, skin color, nationality, language, age, attitude to religion, and other circumstances.

In addition, the failure of foreigners to comply with a lawful command or request from a member of the military service while performing duties to protect the Russian state border will be grounds for administrative expulsion.

According to Volodin, adopting the draft law contributes to improving public safety and establishing order in the field of migration, especially since it will be followed by draft laws aimed at regulating labor migration issues.

Thus, the Russian parliament has added discrimination and disobedience against military personnel tasked with guarding the border to the list of reasons for deporting migrants from former Soviet Union countries, especially from Central Asian states such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and others.

Racial and Class Discrimination in Russia

After emerging from the Soviet Union, Russia has recorded cases of discrimination and xenophobia, manifested in daily biases, restrictions on work and housing, and tightening of immigration laws. This has complicated the protection of foreign citizens' rights and exposed them to administrative deportation.

Racial discrimination and xenophobia in Russia most often affect migrant workers and students from Asia, Africa, and the Caucasus. This problem manifests in daily intolerance, racial profiling by law enforcement agencies, and institutional restrictions under stricter immigration laws, despite the fact that Russian civil law prohibits discrimination based on race or nationality.

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, regularly report the practice of random document checks (racial profiling) on the streets of major cities and in the subway. This leads to arbitrary detention of people of African or Asian origin.

Foreigners often face bias when looking for housing, work, or in public transportation, where they may be associated with criminal elements or illegal immigrants, to the extent that job or rental advertisements usually end with a phrase requiring the applicant to be Russian and of pure Slavic appearance.

Regulatory Framework

In addition to the prevailing racial and class discrimination in the Russian public space, the legal status of foreigners is regulated by a number of discriminatory laws, often criticized by human rights activists for their racist nature, including migration monitoring, as foreigners are required to register at a specific place of residence within a short period and comply with restrictions, such as those concerning the use of mobile phone SIM cards, and obtaining a costly work license to carry out any work or economic activity in Russia.

Service of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Army (AP)

The authorities also restrict the right to education for foreigners, as amendments introduced by the authorities require foreign children to pass a Russian language test to enroll in school, threatening a large segment of students' access to educational opportunities.

The authorities also exercise strict control over persons subject to a residence registry; from the moment they are entered into the registry, foreigners may be subject to significant restrictions (for example, a ban on driving a car, transferring money, and marriage) if they are accused of violating immigration rules.

Discrimination and the War in Ukraine

Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine had a direct impact on migration policy: over the past four years, many new laws and amendments to existing legislation have been adopted, affecting entry procedures, facilitating the deportation of migrants, and changing the rules for acquiring and revoking citizenship, education of migrants' children, and the service of foreign citizens in the Russian army.

Law enforcement practices and public attitudes towards migrants are undergoing changes. The concept of migration policy for 2026-2030, signed by Putin in October 2025, consolidates these changes and also reinforces a path towards tightening migration conditions.

Rising Migrant Phobia

Russian migration policy changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union and witnessed a reversal in concepts of mercy, brotherhood, equality, and international humanism, with extreme nationalist tendencies now controlling migration policy and relations with foreigners on Russian territory, especially with those who were brothers in citizenship until recently, i.e., those from the poor Soviet republics.

The human rights organization 'Call of Conscience' reported that a decree issued on November 5, 2025, and effective immediately, imposed 'new obstacles on foreigners residing in Russia. Men aged 18 to 65 cannot apply for a residence permit or a Russian passport except in three cases: if they sign a contract for military service, if they are deemed unfit for contract service for health reasons, or if they have already served in the Russian army.'

These changes exempt citizens of Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Ukraine applying for temporary residence permits, and do not apply to top university graduates, nor to those who received their education in Russia and work in their field of specialization.

The decree does not affect citizens of Belarus. As for other foreigners in Russia, this law represents another step towards restricting equality of rights.

Racial Profiling, Militias, and the Police

Recently, a woman from Buryatia was illegally detained and taken to a police station for an 'identity check.' There, she witnessed men in military uniforms bearing the letter Z symbol, calling themselves 'security guards,' checking documents of 'individuals of Asian origin.' As it later turned out, the 'security guards' were members of the neo-Nazi organization 'Russian Society.'

Such cases recur regularly even before the outbreak of the full-scale war with Ukraine. Since the start of the war, the situation has deteriorated markedly: today, there are no external constraints on the system in Russia, and the state no longer even tries to hide its discriminatory nature.

Previously, this external constraint was Russia's membership in the Council of Europe, which allowed victims to challenge Russian court decisions before the European Court of Human Rights.