CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov spoke at the State Duma of the Russian Federation at parliamentary hearings on migration policy

On April 2, 2018, the Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO Valery Semerikov took part and spoke at the State Duma of the Russian Federation at parliamentary hearings on the migration policy of the Russian Federation in the CIS.
In his speech to the participants of the parliamentary hearings, the Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO, V. Semerikov, noted that to date, the Organization has built and successfully operates a multifunctional integrated security system in the area of ​​responsibility of the CSTO, to counter challenges and threats, including illegal migration.
It was emphasized that illegal migration is closely related to such forms of cross-border crime as international terrorism, arms trafficking, drug trafficking and human trafficking.  
   Valery Semerikov gave an assessment of the emerging migration situation in the CSTO area of ​​responsibility. It was noted that at present the migration situation as a whole in the states is stable and controlled. This should take into account the presence in the CSTO member states of substantial migration flows from the countries of Southeast Asia, the Asia-Pacific Region, and the Near and Middle East.  
So, by joint efforts of the competent authorities of the CSTO member states, only during Operation Illegal 2017, which by decision of the Heads of State of the Organization in November 2017 was given the status of permanent regional CSTO operations to combat illegal migration, more than 150,000 violations of immigration laws were stopped, 4,673 criminal cases were initiated for organizing illegal migration and 119 criminal cases for trafficking in persons.  
In addition, the Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO stressed that taking into account the situation with illegal migration in the CSTO space, the Heads of State of the Organization commissioned a set of additional measures to intensify the fight against illegal migration. In order to regulate this work, it was decided to prepare in 2018 an Agreement on cooperation between the CSTO member states in the area of ​​combating illegal migration.  
Parliamentary hearings were held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Irina Yarovoy and the Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Leonid Kalashnikov. They were attended by deputies of the State Duma, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Pankin, Head of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Olga Kirillova and representatives of other interested ministries and departments.  
Following the results of the hearings, Recommendations were prepared, which reflected the suggestions made in the speech of the CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov.