MINSK, 20 October (BelTA) – No migration legislation violators, who arrive in Belarus using the visa-free option, have been subjected to the readmission procedure in Russia, representatives of the Belarusian Interior Ministry told BelTA.
Aleksei Begun, Head of the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Belarusian Interior Ministry, underlined that together with colleagues from the Russian Federation they had established effective interaction and control with regard to the foreigners, who arrive in Belarus using the visa-free procedure. Violators are added to the list of persons, who are not welcome in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. “Over 500 foreign citizens were added to the list in January-September 2017. We have received no information from Russian colleagues about concrete troubles in this sphere. The Russian Federation has never resorted to the readmission procedure with regard to the migration legislation violators, who arrived in Belarus using the visa-free option,” said Aleksei Begun.
The agreement on a universal migration card has been in effect in Belarus and Russia for several years. The two countries effectively execute the readmission agreement, which provides for receiving and transferring illegal migrants, who arrive from one country to the other country. In 2016 alone as part of the agreement's implementation the Belarusian side transferred over 200 people to the Russian side and received only one person from Russia. Over 60 people have been transferred and zero persons have been received so far this year.
The competent agencies of Belarus and Russia work persistently to implement the Belarus-Russia Union State Treaty. The Union State Council of Ministers has adopted an action plan to set up common migration space in 2017-2020. Virtually all the measures scheduled for 2017 have been fulfilled already. In the near future Belarusian and Russian experts will discuss a draft agreement on the mutual recognition of visas and other documents regulating the stay of foreigners in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. Plans have been made to sign the agreement this year.
