A meeting was held in the Voronezh Regional Duma on the problems of relations between foreign and Russian students

November 8, 2005 in the Voronezh Regional Duma, at a joint meeting of the Committee for Youth Affairs and Sports of the Duma and the public advisory Council for Youth Affairs under the Voronezh Regional Duma, problems related to the relationship between foreign and Russian students were considered. The meeting was attended by deputies, students of Voronezh universities - both Russians and foreigners, representatives of the leadership of a number of Voronezh universities, representatives of law enforcement agencies and administrations of Voronezh and the region.

After the attack on three foreign students in Voronezh, working groups of the Youth Council were formed at the regional Duma. Some results of the work of these groups were summed up at the last meeting. From the reports of the leaders it followed that, in general, foreign students are satisfied with the living and learning conditions. However, in almost all universities, the security of dormitories is extremely poor, with the exception of VSU dormitories. The organization of leisure for foreigners was also a separate issue - there is practically no work with them. Practically in all universities of the city in recent years there have been no conflicts between Russian and foreign students on racial grounds.

According to Alexander Nebolsin, deputy head of the department of precinct and juvenile affairs of the regional police department, many problems for foreigners arise from their ignorance of Russian laws. Representatives of foreign students who were present in the hall agreed with this. "Russia has always welcomed foreigners, and has never participated in human rights violations like other states. But there is a disease that needs to be treated. Perhaps foreign students sometimes provoke aggression against themselves, and I apologize for all foreign students who are unworthy behaved in Voronezh, and I hope that this will not happen again ," said Mohmad Putman, a citizen of the Republic of Chad.

Foreign students also talked about the need to hand out a set of Russian laws to foreigners coming to Russia so that students know what is allowed and what is prohibited in Russia.

Oleg Parshikov, Assistant Prosecutor of the Voronezh Region, also spoke at the meeting. According to him, today it is necessary to talk about an increase in the overall level of crime, and in particular juvenile crime: in the region for 9 months of 2005, the increase in the number of crimes against citizens of foreign states in relation to the same period in 2004 amounted to 30 percent, and in general crime has risen by 20 percent.

A separate problem is a sharp increase in the number of crimes committed in public places - in 2005 there were more than 7,000 of them registered. One of the reasons for this trend, the assistant prosecutor called the insufficient number of patrol services.

As a result of the meeting, the advisory council was recommended to continue studying the problem, as well as to form a commission for foreign students and youth work. Also, the leadership of universities was recommended to pay attention to the "domestic and leisure life of students" , to strengthen work to protect the places of residence of foreign students.

Sources

• Foreigners want to study the laws of Russia so as not to violate them (Voronezh) // IA REGNUM. 2005. November 8.