The speaker of the Upper House of Parliament of the Russian Federation Sergei Mironov has pledged his support and defense to foreign nationals studying in the country. He made this pronouncement at a meeting of the Joint Commission at the Federal Council on National Policies and bilateral relations between the state and religious organisations held with representatives of the Association of Foreign Students in the Russian Federation in Moscow on the 10th July 2006.
As chairman of the Joint Commission, Sergei Mironov reaffirmed the readiness of the Commission to protect foreign students in case of any aggressive racial actions against them. He said that the Commission was always ready to move and verify such actions and take the necessary and immediate measures. According to him a direct contact line will be made available to any foreign student who can report such racial abuses to the Commission.
He said that the aim of the meeting, the first of its kind ever held, was to demonstrate and reiterate to the foreign students the Federal government position on racial issues within the framework of “education of foreign nationals in the Russian Federation: their social and security problems.” He said that the federal government has a very negative attitude to towards the so-called patriots of the Russian Federation who concede that Russia is only for Russians. He reminded those “patriots of Russia” not to forget that the Russian Federation is made up of multi-ethnic and religious groupings which have lived together for ages. He warned that the actions of the so-called “patriots of Russia” are anti-Russian which are detrimental to the Russian state and can lead the country to unpredictable results. He expressed great sadness at the recent racial attacks on foreign nationals in cities like St. Petersburg, his hometown, Moscow, Voronezh and a few more other cities of the country and made it clear that those involved in such anti-racial and religious activities should be brought to light and punished according to the laws of the country and should not be given the chance to destroy the Russian state.
Sergei Mironov said it was disgracing and appalling for Russian citizens to engage in such inhuman activities moreover when their fathers and grandfathers had paid a very high price to stop fascism from encroaching the world. In his words, “the Federal authorities will do everything possible, including amending existing laws and enact new ones to defend and safeguard the security of foreign nationals in the country”. He stressed once again, on the points of the Russian President Vladimir Putin that the current Russian federal government has embarked on and is determined to engage in an open policy and dialogue with all walks of life no matter whatever religious or racial groups one belongs to. It is in the light of this policy that he convened such a meeting to discuss and share views on burning racial issues with representatives of the various branches of Association of Foreign Students in the Russian Federation (AFS) and other student organisations.
In his speech, the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko who also participated in the meeting, stated that “the Russian Federation welcomes and will continue to stimulate the inflow of foreign students into the country” because according to his words “Russian Federation itself has great potential, strategic and economic interests in training foreign students particularly when Russia still has one of the highest standard of education and also remains one of the cheapest in the world”. The Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko stated that currently only about 100 thousand foreign students are studying in the country and expressed concern of his ministry about the negative attitudes of foreign students towards certain cities of the Russian Federation.
Other participants included the Director of Federal Immigration Services of the Russian Federation Konstantin Romodanovsky who spoke about the need to streamline the immigration laws to make it possible to weed out illegal immigrants and help genuine foreign students. The
President of Union of Rectors of Higher Institutions of the Russian Federation Victor Sadovnichy- Rector of MGU, in accepting most of the theses of his colleagues, called for the creation of reasonable conditions and better organisational approaches for admitting potential students to make Russia a more attractive place for studies.
The Commission meeting offered an opportunity to former Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, currently Rector of RUDN (Patrice Lumumba University) Vladimir Filippov, President of the Association of Foreign Students in the Russian Federation Gabriel Kotchofa to air their views. Present were also representatives from the Federal Attorney-General’s Office, the Federal Ministry of Interior (MVD), the Federal Security Services (FSB).
The essential aspect of the meeting was that the federal authorities were ready to listen to the foreign students about the burning racial issues and try to work hand in hand to minimise the negative aspects and effects of the intercultural and racial antagonism.
Ray M. K. Atitsogbui
Belgorod, Russia.
