Russia may abandon its rigid registration rules, seen as a check on labor mobility and a source of human rights abuse, under a new bill drafted by the state migration agency, a leading business daily said on Tuesday.
The bill being developed by the Federal Migration Service would cancel the regulatory approval system, which stipulates that a person who would like to change his place of residence needs to ask authorities for permission, Vedomosti said. If the bill is approved, a notification system will be introduced, which means Russians will only have to notify authorities of their moving after the fact.
A passport system, introduced by Bolsheviks in December 1932, made it almost impossible for Soviet citizens to change their place of residence. The restrictions were eased in 1950-1960.
Article 27 of the Russian Constitution adopted in 1993 says: "Everyone who is lawfully living in the territory of the Russian Federation shall have the right to freedom of movement and to choose a place to stay and reside."
However, the current system hampers the realization of citizen's civil rights until an individual is officially registered in the new place of residence.
According to the Public Opinion research foundation, some 7% of Russians say they cannot realize their right to freedom of movement, while 59% said they did not know if their rights were breached or not, the paper said.
Federal Migration Service spokesman Konstantin Poltoranin was quoted by the paper as saying a permanent registration system should become "a thing of the past." He described the expected cancelation of the regulatory approval system, which is widely seen as a money-making instrument for corrupt officials, as a "very important step."
MOSCOW, February 2 (RIA Novosti)
