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Half a Million Foreigners Deported From Russia in 4 Years

Recent legislation has lead to a sharp rise in the number of foreigners being deported from Russia, a leading refugee charity reported Tuesday.

Research from migration organization the Civic Assistance Committee shows that more than 513,000 deportation orders have been passed by the Russian courts since 2013.

Civic Assistance Committee spokesman Konstantin Troitsky linked the increase to tougher migration legislature passed in July of 2013. “Deportation has become mandatory in case of repeated violations of law, tax evasion or administrative fines,” Troitsky said. He also pointed to an increase in the number of raids by immigration authorities.

Russia's courts rule to deport defendants in more than 70 percent of migration cases. In some courts, it takes judges three to five minutes on average to deliver a verdict of deportation, the report claimed.

Russia's Federal Migration Service has banned more than 1.7 million foreign citizens from entering Russia since 2012.

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