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World Banks says Russia should review immigration policy

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MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia would benefit from substantially changing its immigration policy, the World Bank said Tuesday in a report on the Russian economy.

Immigration is one of the main preconditions for stable economic growth in Russia. The country's population is ageing and declining - a phenomenon expected to continue for several decades, the report said.

According to the Population Reference Bureau's 2005 World Population Data Sheet (WPDS), Russia has the second most severe depopulation rate in the world at -0.6% per year, equal with Belarus. Only Ukraine is in more dire straits with a rate of -0.7%.

According to WPDS forecasts, the Russian population will plummet 17% by 2050, from 144 to 119 million, but the UN puts the figure even lower at 112 million, the report said.

To fully compensate for the depopulation, a yearly inflow of one million employable migrants would be needed - three times more than the average inflow between the 1989 and 2002 censuses.

Official rules should be relaxed and made more sensible, and an amnesty on current illegal immigrants in the country should be considered, the report said.

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