Over 40 illegal migrants have been uncovered during the Nelegal operation at the Belarusian-Russian border held by the joint law-enforcement bodies of the Pskov and Vitebsk Oblasts in May 2010, head of the department for the Pskov Oblast of the Federal Migration Service of Russia Alexander Paramonov told media on 24 June. He took part in a working meeting of the heads of the migration services of the Pskov and Vitebsk Oblasts in Vitebsk on 24 June, BelTA has learnt.

Vitebsk and Pskov law enforcement officers hold such joint operations every quarter of the year. The Pskov Oblast which borders on the regions of the three states and which is crossed by over 2 million people every year reports a high illegal migration rate. Russian law enforcers are in a close cooperation with the Belarusian colleagues on this issue. “Cooperation against illegal migration is high on the agenda of every working meeting,” Alexander Paramonov said.

According to head of the citizenship and migration office of the Interior Department of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee Tatiana Romashova, one of the most important issues in the cooperation between the migration services of the two oblasts is assistance to the people in a difficult situation. Today over 20,000 people who live in the Vitebsk Oblast have a residence permit (over 14,000 of them are Russian nationals). A high cooperation level between the services of the two oblasts help respond quickly to the problems of people, for instance, the loss of documents, or any problems related to labor migration. Besides, the border of the Vitebsk ad Pskov Oblasts is almost 250 kilometers long and covers five regions of the Vitebsk Oblast.

The working meeting which is to end on 25 June will highlight a range of issues concerning the organization of joint operations aimed at tracing, preventing and suppressing illegal migration as well as outlining measures for enhancing efficiency of the cooperation between the migration services of the Vitebsk and Pskov Oblasts.

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