The Propiska or Residence Permit

The propiska system was first introduced to Russia during Czarist times; Stalin modified the system in the 1930s in an attempt to prevent thousands of starving peasants from swamping the country's relatively prosperous cities (The Boston Globe 26 Oct. 1997). The propiska was a stamp found in a Soviet citizen's internal passport that indicated the city or town of official residence of the bearer (ibid.; The Moscow Times 10 July 1997). According to The Washington Post, the propiska "was the purview of the Communist Party to tell people where to work and reside. Dissident writers were banished to the provinces as punishment; permits to live in Moscow—always the most desirable—were strictly controlled" (13 Mar. 1998). All Soviet citizens were required to carry internal passports (The Boston Globe 26 Oct. 1997). This remains the case in Russia today, although in October 1997 the old Soviet passports began to be replaced with new Russian ones (please see section below on internal passports) (ibid.).

In 1993 Russia's new constitution abolished the system of residence restrictions (ibid.). Article 27(1) of the Constitution states that "everyone who is lawfully staying on the territory of the Russian Federation shall have the right to freedom of movement and to choose the place to stay and residence [sic]" (Blaustein May 1994, 7; see also Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259; The Washington Post 13 Mar. 1998). A federal law on freedom of movement passed in 1993 codified this constitutional principle (ibid.; Arutyunov 11 May 1998; see also The Moscow Times 10 July 1997).

However, despite the constitution and the federal law, a propiska-like system of residential registration notification has continued to exist in major Russian cities and regions (The Washington Post 13 Mar. 1998; The Moscow Times 10 July 1997; Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259). Moscow-based human rights organizations claim that at least 30 or 40 regional and city governments still retain various restrictive regulations and "illegal barriers to registration" and settlement (The Moscow Times 10 July 1997; UNHCR 14 May 1998; Ossipov 9 May 1998). Alexander Ossipov, a programme officer with the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Centre, states that the following regions or cities are among those that have implemented varying types of restrictive registration polices: Krasnodar Krai, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod oblasts, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Moscow, Stavropol Krai, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Adygean Republic, Orenburg, Novosibirsk and the Republics of Karachai-Cherkessian and Dagestan (ibid.). Other regions, including Stavropol Krai, the Chuvash Republic, Orel and Kaluga oblasts, "pursue restrictive policies on a non-normative, informal basis" (ibid.). The most severe restrictions are found in Moscow, Moscow oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Voronezh oblast and the regions of the North Caucasus (ibid.; Arutyunov 11 May 1998; see also Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259; Pravda 8 Apr. 1998; Inostranets 9 July 1997). St. Petersburg is also reported to have restrictive registration procedures (Arutyunov 11 May 1998; Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259). Please see the electronically attached table from the magazine Migration for a detailed listing of Russian regions and cities that have restrictions or infringements on freedom of movement, residence and choice of place to stay.

In an article published in the Russian Migration magazine, Vladimir Mukomel, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethnic, Political and Regional Studies, states that

The constitutions of the republics [of Russia] and their statutes frequently run counter to the Russian Constitution, intruding into the areas which are within the exclusive competence of Russian Federal authorities. Of all the constitutions of the republics only two do not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.... There are violations of federal legislation at the level of regional laws and subordinate legislative acts. The restrictions of the right to freedom of movement and choice of place of residence are most widespread and typical. Practically everywhere, the temporary and permanent residence registration procedure, which should require only reporting to the respective authority by applicants, in Russian regions is substituted with the requirement to get residence permits (Migration July-September 1997).

Vladimir Mukomel's article, entitled "Regulation of Migration in Russia," is an in-depth examination of the various (legal and illegal) restrictions and regulations in Russia's regions and republics that govern the registration and migration of Russian citizens, former Soviet citizens, refugees and forced migrants.¹

According to Country Reports 1997, "although the [registration] rules ... [since 1996] were touted as a notification device rather than a control system, their application has produced many of the same results as the propiska system" (1998, 1259). The residency permits currently being issued are placed inside an individual's internal passport, as was the case in the past (Ossipov 9 May 1998; Mukomel 22 May 1998; UNHCR 14 May 1998; Arutyunov 11 May 1998).

The Ministry of Interior passport office in each city district is responsible for administering registration procedures (UNHCR 14 May 1998; Ossipov 16 May 1998). In Moscow, the dwelling space the applicant intends to live in must be of a certain minimum size (ibid.; UNHCR 14 May 1998; The Moscow Times 10 July 1997). Close family members of Moscow residents may not have to abide by the minimum living space requirement (UNHCR 14 May 1998). The city of Moscow interprets close family members as including elderly parents, minor children, spouses and disabled siblings (ibid.). The following (non-exhaustive) categories of people may also be permitted to register their residence in Moscow, although certain additional conditions may apply to these individuals: active and retired servicepersons, owners of Moscow dwellings and some employees of Moscow businesses (Ossipov 16 May 1998; see also HRW Dec. 1997, 272). According to Ossipov, the following documents are among those that individuals may be required to present to city officials in order to register their residence in Moscow: [internal] passport, personal registration application, documents certifying blood ties, documents certifying the status of the proposed dwelling (private, municipal, state owned, etc.) and written consent by the individual letting the dwelling to the proposed new resident (16 May 1998; Arutyunov 11 May 1998). City of Moscow legislation stipulates that the registration procedure must not take longer than six days (Ossipov 16 May 1998); if all documents are in order it should normally take two or three days (UNHCR 14 May 1998).

The formal requirements for residency registration in Moscow are governed by Joint Resolution of the Government of Moscow and the Government of Moscow Province No. 1030-43 of 26 December 1995² and Joint Resolution No. 979-42 of 17 December 1996 (Ossipov 16 May 1998). In April 1996 the Russian Constitutional Court overturned a Moscow law which gave local officials the power to collect high fees for registration (Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259; HRW Dec. 1997, 272; UNHCR 14 May 1998). According to Kommersant-Daily, the ruling stipulated that the "amount of the fee for a residence permit in Moscow, Stavropol Territory or Voronezh Province and the charging of that fee before a citizen is allowed to register [is] illegal" (3 July 1997). In 1996 new arrivals to Moscow had to pay 300-500 times the minimum wage, or approximately US$4,200-7,500 to register their residence in the city (The Moscow Times 10 July 1997; Kommersant-Daily 3 July 1997; Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259).

On 2 July 1997 the Constitutional Court "struck down a Moscow oblast registration law on the grounds that the fees collected constituted a tax that is not in the power of a regional government to levy. However, since such decisions do not have universality of application, the ruling does not affect registration requirements in other oblasts and cities" (Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259; see also HRW Dec. 1997, 272; Inostranets 9 July 1997; The Moscow Times 10 July 1997). The Court's ruling also stated that the fees violate the 1993 Constitutional principal of freedom of movement (The Moscow Times 10 July 1997). According to a human rights activist quoted by The Moscow Times, however, "although fees are now clearly illegal and all Russians have a right to be registered wherever they like, the bureaucracy has failed to get the message. 'The problem is that they change the law and don't tell people working at the passport desk'" (ibid.).

In December 1996 and 1997, in response to Constitutional Court decisions, the charging of high registration fees in Moscow was gradually abandoned (Ossipov 16 May 1998; UNHCR 14 May 1998; HRW Dec. 1997, 272; The Moscow Times 10 July 1997). Following this, individuals seeking to register their residence officially must pay only a federally imposed duty equivalent to one per cent of the minimum wage (Ossipov 16 May 1998).

On 15 January 1998 the Constitutional Court ruled that citizens can no longer be required to produce a residence permit in order to receive a passport valid for international travel (The Moscow Times 17 Jan. 1998; RFE/RL 20 Jan. 1998; Rabochaya Tribuna 3 Feb. 1998). "The court ruling means that homeless people, forced migrants, and others who lack a permit ('propiska') for their city of residence may receive passports valid for foreign travel" (RFE/RL 20 Jan. 1998).

According to another Constitutional Court ruling issued on 2 February 1998, "a city may only 'certify the act of the free expression of will of a citizen' to live there. The city cannot be 'granting permission' or limit where people choose to live, nor can it dictate how long a person could live in a particular place" (The Washington Post 13 Mar. 1998; Arutyunov 11 May 1998; Financial Times 3 Feb. 1998; The Moscow Times 4 Feb. 1998). In March 1998 Moscow mayor Luzhkov refused to comply with the Court's ruling (The Washington Post 13 Mar. 1998). Citing the Moscow director for Human Rights Watch/Helsinki (HRW/H), The Washington Post reports that "'Luzhkov doesn't seem to consider himself bound by the rulings of the highest court in the country'" (13 Mar. 1998). As recently as March 1998 Mayor Luzhkov reportedly vowed "to preserve the capital's system of limiting the number of residence permits for people not born in the city" (The Moscow Times 11 Mar. 1998). According to Ossipov, while some regions, such as Stavropol, Rostov and St. Petersburg, have acknowledged the Constitutional Court's decisions, most have not (9 May 1998).

The Moscow Times reports that the February 1998 ruling will have little affect on the operation of the "propiska" system in everyday life (4 Feb. 1998). According to this article, real changes to the residency permit system will only occur when "all the rules and regulations, issued by local authorities on the basis of the federal government's 1995 regulation on residency registration, have been 'duly abolished,' in line with the court's ruling. So far no deadline has been set for the abolition of these regulations" (ibid.). Mikhail Arutyunov, President of the Moscow-based International Organization for Human Rights Protection, stated during an 11 May 1998 telephone interview that despite the recent Constitutional Court rulings in reality the propiska system remains "very much in place throughout Russia."

Individuals who move to a new city and cannot register face a number of obstacles (The Moscow Times 4 Feb. 1998; ibid., 10 July 1997). An individual not in possession of a valid residency permit cannot be legally employed and has no access to social benefits. They can be arrested, fined and expelled back to the town where they are registered, school access for children is often denied, telephone lines cannot be hooked up, they cannot obtain a driver's license and may not be permitted to marry in the new city (ibid.; ibid., 4 Feb. 1998; Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259; The Washington Post 20 Jan. 1997; The Christian Science Monitor 2 Apr. 1998).

Proponents of the propiska system, including Moscow mayor Luzhkov, claim that the system is necessary in order to control crime, generate revenue and control the burgeoning population of large Russian cities (Country Reports 1997 1998, 1259; The Christian Science Monitor 2 Apr. 1998; NTV 13 Mar. 1998; The Moscow Times 11 Mar. 1998). Others claim, however, that the system is in place to restrict migration, evict the homeless and prevent non-Russians from taking up residence (The Moscow Times 11 Mar. 1998; ibid.; 20 Dec. 1997; HRW/H 5 Sept. 1997). The homeless, people from Central Asia and the Caucasus or those with dark skin appear to be a favourite target of investigation by Moscow police forces (The Moscow Times 20 Dec. 1997; The Washington Post 25 Oct. 1997; HRW/H 5 Sept. 1997; The Economist 12 July 1997). According to a September 1997 Human Rights Watch/Helsinki publication,

Moscow police hound 'second-class' visitors, refugees and visitors from the CIS and from Russia's regions in the name of enforcing its civilian registration, or propiska system.... Under this system police routinely check passports on the basis of skin colour, invade the privacy of homes, illegally detain and fine refugees, and beat detainees with impunity.... On any given day in Russia's capital, an undeclared state of emergency is enforced against non-Muscovites, which peaks at times of public emergencies and holidays (5 Sept. 1997).

According to the executive director of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki,

we do not question the need to monitor a civilian registration system .... we deplore, however, the predatory way the Moscow police go about it. For them, the registration system means open season on non-Muscovites and refugees, open season for violence and bribes.... The current version of the registration system is an open invitation for police abuse.... Police set the fines arbitrarily, and more often than not seem to pocket what they collect (ibid.).

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki also declares discriminatory the practice of charging visitors to Moscow from the CIS, who do not require visas to travel to Russia, US$43 for registering their visit (ibid.). All visitors to Moscow must register within 24 hours of their arrival in the city and they cannot remain in town for longer than six months (ibid.).

Internal Passports

On 1 October 1997 Russia began to issue new internal passports or identification documents; the first passports were distributed in Moscow by President Yeltsin to youths and orphans (Kommersant-Daily 1 Oct. 1997; IPS 9 Dec. 1997; The Washington Post 25 Oct. 1997; see also AFP 22 July 1997; ITAR-TASS 13 Mar. 1997). The new passports, officially referred to as Russian Federation (RF) Citizen's Passports, will replace old Soviet internal passports; Soviet passports will continue to be valid, however, until they are replaced with the newer version (ITAR-TASS 13 Mar. 1997; Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 July 1997; Kommersant-Daily 1 Oct. 1997). The issuance of new passports is not expected to be complete until 31 December 2005 (Kommersant-Daily 1 Oct. 1997; Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 July 1997). Approximately 10 million new internal passports are to be distributed in 1998; in 1999 and subsequent years 20 million passports should be distributed annually (Mukomel 22 May 1998). All Russian citizens 14 years of age and older residing in Russia must be in possession of an internal passport (Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 July 1996; UNHCR 14 May 1998). Upon reaching the ages of 20 and 45 citizens must apply for replacement passports (Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 July 1996).

Like the old Soviet internal passports, the new internal passports record the "citizen's registration at his or her place of residence and his or her removal from the registration rolls—by the appropriate registration-rolls agencies" (Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 July 1996; The Boston Globe 26 Oct. 1997). The Boston Globe states that the fact that residence is recorded in the internal passports gives an "unexpected boost" to the propiska system (ibid.).

The new passports do not, however, include the notorious "fifth line" or "fifth point" that the Soviet era document contains (IPS 9 Dec. 1997; The Ottawa Citizen 4 Sept. 1997; The Baltimore Sun 31 Oct. 1997). The fifth line of Soviet internal passports identifies the nationality or ethnic identity of the bearer (ibid.; The Ottawa Citizen 4 Sept. 1997). According to an analysis of the new passports published by IPS, "the notorious 'fifth point' on the form ... entered Soviet folklore as a symbol of ethnic discrimination, particularly with regard to Jews" (IPS 9 Dec. 1997). According to IPS, the exclusion of a mandatory declaration of nationality is in line with Russia's 1993 constitution (9 Dec. 1997). Article 26(1) of the constitution states that "everyone shall have the right to determine and state his national identity. No one can be forced to determine and state his national identity" (Blaustein May 1994, 7).

Human rights groups and Jewish activists claim that the omission of a declaration of ethnicity marks a "victory for common sense" (The Ottawa Citizen 4 Sept. 1997; The Washington Post 25 Oct. 1997; Kommersant-Daily 16 Oct. 1997; The Moscow Times 28 Oct. 1997). Several minority groups in Russia, however, have vehemently protested the exclusion of a statement of national identity in internal passports (IPS 9 Dec. 1997; The Baltimore Sun 31 Oct. 1997; The Moscow Times 28 Oct. 1997; Mukomel 22 May 1998; The Washington Post 25 Oct. 1997). The Russian republics of Tatarstan, Adygeya, Ingushetia and Bashkiria, for example, have suspended distribution of the new passports because they do not allow their citizens to record their nationality (ibid.; Mukomel 22 May 1998; Ekho Moskvy Radio 14 Nov. 1997; ITAR-TASS 2 Dec. 1997; Kommersant-Daily 2 Dec. 1997; IPS 9 Dec. 1997). Minority groups claim that the inability to record one's ethnicity is a violation of their constitutional rights (The Baltimore Sun 31 Oct. 1997). The move is also viewed by many members of minority groups as an attempt to Russify non-Russian citizens of the Federation (IPS 9 Dec. 1997; Interfax 5 Nov. 1997).

Authorities in the protesting republics are asking that extra pages be added to the internal passports; these pages should be in the language of the respective region and may, if a citizen so desires, indicate the nationality of the bearer (Kommersant-Daily 2 Dec. 1997; ITAR-TASS 13 Nov. 1997). According to a 2 December 1997 report by ITAR-TASS, the Russian government is considering introducing "special supplementary sheets with the nationality indication in ethnic regions." The Russian Federation decree on new internal passports states that republics within the federation may issue special additional pages in the language of the republic (Ossipov 9 May 1998; Mukomel 22 May 1998; Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 July 1997). Ossipov notes that "the decree does not [indicate what can] be mentioned in those additional pages and does not put any restrictions" (9 May 1998).

Mikhail Arutyunov and a legal officer with the UNHCR's Moscow office report that while there have been discussions about adding new pages to the internal passports, this has not yet been done and there remains no agreement in the republics on the format of the new internal passports (Arutyunov 11 May 1998; UNHCR 14 May 1998). According to Arutyunov, as of mid-May both the new Russian and old Soviet internal passports are being distributed and some republics have threatened to issue their own internal passports (11 May 1998; IPS 9 Dec. 1997). Citing a 8 May 1998 article in Izvestia, Vladimir Mukomel reports that Tatarstan has begun issuing its own internal passports (22 May 1998).

Please see the Rossiyskaya Gazeta article electronically attached to this Response to Information Request for a complete transcription of the Russian Federation government decree and statute on the issuance of the new internal passports. The attachment also includes a detailed visual and substantive description of the new internal passports.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

NOTES:

¹. An English version of this article was electronically forwarded to the Research Directorate by the author. It is available in its entirety at the IRB's Resource Centre in Ottawa; when the published version of the article becomes available it will be forwarded to all Regional Documentation Centres.

². The Research Directorate has a Russian-language copy of this law.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 22 July 1997. "Russie—divers: Le 'passeport intérieur' remplacé à compter du 1er octobre." (Internet mailing list: topic@afp.com)

Arutyunov, Mikhail. 11 May 1998. Telephone interview with the President of the Moscow-based International Organization for Human Rights Protection.

The Baltimore Sun. 31 October 1997. Final Edition. "Documents That Control; Russia: Effort to Drop 'Nationality' Line from Internal Passports Creates a Backlash." (NEXIS)

Blaustein, Albert P. May 1994. Vol. 16. "The Russian Federation," Constitutions of the Countries of the World. Edited by Albert P. Blaustein and Gisbert H. Flanz. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications.

The Boston Globe. 26 October 1997. City Edition. David Filipov. "In Moscow, They're Alien in Own Nation." (NEXIS)

The Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 2 April 1998. Judith Matloff. "Uprooted Flee to Moscow, But Welcome Mat is Thin." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997. 1998. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

The Economist [London]. 12 July 1997. U.S. Edition. "The Makings of a Molotov Cocktail." (NEXIS)

Ekho Moskvy Radio [Moscow, in Russian]. 14 November 1997. "North Caucasus Republic Refuses to Issue New Russian Passports." (BBC Summary 17 Nov. 1997/NEXIS)

Financial Times [London]. 3 February 1998. Chrystia Freeland. "Russian Court Deals Blow to Curb on Right to Move." (NEXIS)

Human Rights Watch (HRW). December 1997. Human Rights Watch Report 1998: Events of 1997. New York: HRW.

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki (HRW/H). 5 September 1997. "Moscow—Police Hound 'Second-Class' Visitors." (Internet mailing list: majordomo@igc.apc.org)

Inostranets [in Russian]. 9 July 1997. "Changes in Registration Policy." (International Refugee Documentation Network (IRDN) Newsletter No. 65, July-December 1997)

Interfax News Agency [Moscow, in English]. 5 November 1997. "Federation Council Urges Yeltsin to Make New Passports Bilingual." (BBC Summary 7 Nov. 1997/NEXIS)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 9 December 1997. Valery Tishkov. "Population: New Russian Passports Must Silence Ethnic Rancour." (NEXIS)

ITAR-TASS [Moscow, in English]. 2 December 1997. Igor Zhukov. "Russia: New Russian Passports May Have Sheets for Nationality." (FBIS-SOV-97-336 4 Dec. 1997/WNC)

____. 13 November 1997. "Tatarstan Suspends Issuing New Russian Passports." (BBC Summary 15 Nov. 1997/NEXIS)

_____. 13 March 1997. "Russia to Introduce New Passports." (NEXIS)

ITAR-TASS [Moscow, in Russian].

Kommersant-Daily [Moscow]. 2 December 1997. Aleksandra Poryvayeva. "Bashkiria Insists on its Right to its Own Language." (Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press 31 Dec. 1997/NEXIS)

_____. 18 October 1997. Galina Pechilina. "Tataria Turns Down Russian Passports." (Russian Press Digest 18 Oct. 1997/NEXIS)

_____. 1 October 1997. Yuri Senatorov. "Orphans Get First Russian Passports." (Russian Press Digest 1 Oct. 1998/NEXIS)

_____. 3 July 1997. Maksim Zhukov. "Constitutional Court Abolishes Charge for Residence Permit. For Good." (Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press 6 Aug. 1997/NEXIS)

Migration [Moscow]. July-September 1997. No. 3(4). Vladimir Mukomel. "Regulation of Migration in Russia." The author sent the Research Directorate an electronic version of this article in English.

The Moscow Times. 11 March 1998. "Residence Permits Stay, Mayor Says." (NEXIS)

_____. 4 February 1998. Andrei Zolotov Jr. "Court Takes Step Toward Dismantling Propiskas." (NEXIS)

_____. 17 January 1998. Chloe Arnold. "Court Abolishes Propiska Travel Rule." (NEXIS)

_____. 20 December 1997. Carlotta Gall. "A Little Dignity in a Bright Red Cover." (NEXIS)

_____. 28 October 1997. Julia Shargorodska. "Russia Considers Optional Ethnicity Listing." (NEXIS)

_____. 10 July 1997. Bronwyn McLaren. "Court Deals a Blow to Hated 'Propiska'." (NEXIS)

Mukomel, Vladimir. 22 May 1998. Letter to the Research Directorate from the Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethnic, Political and Regional Studies. This centre operates under the office of the President of the Russian Federation.

NTV [Moscow, in Russian]. 13 March 1998. "Russia: Russia's Luzhkov Comments on Moscow Registration Procedures." (FBIS-SOV-98-072 19 Mar. 1998/WNC)

Ossipov, Alexander. 16 May 1998. Letter to the Research Directorate from a Programme Officer with the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Centre.

_____. 9 May 1998. Letter to the Research Directorate from a Programme Officer with the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Centre.

The Ottawa Citizen. 4 September 1997. Susan Sachs. "Russia Abandons Passports' 'Fifth Line': Controversial Ethnic Designation to be Dropped." (NEXIS)

Pravda [Moscow, in Russian]. 8 April 1998. Yuliy Semenenko. "Russia: Mass Migration Threat to Krasnodar Kray." (FBIS-SOV-98-106 17 Apr. 1998/WNC)

Rabochaya Tribuna [Moscow, in Russian]. 3 February 1998. "Russia: Court Rules Against Restriction on Obtaining Passport." (FBIS-SOV-98-036 6 Feb. 1998/WNC)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Research Institute. 20 January 1998. RFE/RL Newsline. Vol. 2, No. 12, Part 1. "...And Residence Permit Not Required for Foreign Passport." (Internet list serve: owner-rferl-1@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU)

Rossiyskaya Gazeta [Moscow, in Russian]. 16 July 1997. "Russia: Decree, Statute on RF Citizen's Passport." (FBIS-SOV-97-157-S 16 July 1997/WNC)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Moscow. 14 May 1998. Letter to the Research Directorate from a Legal Officer with the Moscow-office of the UNHCR.

The Washington Post. 13 March 1998. Final Edition. David Hoffman. "Moscow Mayor Defies Court on Residence Rights." (NEXIS)

_____. 25 October 1997. Final Edition. David Hoffman. "Russia's New Internal Passport Drops Nationality, Drawing Praise and Protests." (NEXIS)

_____. 20 January 1997. Final Edition. David Hoffman. "Moscow Remains a Perk for Permit Holders." (NEXIS)

Attachments

Migration [Moscow]. July-September 1997. No. 3(4). Vladimir Mukomel. "Regulation of Migration in Russia." Excerpt. The author sent the Research Directorate an electronic version of this article in English.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta [Moscow, in Russian]. 16 July 1997. "Russia: Decree, Statute on RF Citizen's Passport." (FBIS-SOV-97-157-S 16 July 1997/WNC)