Troublesome Soviet Legacy

KOMPAS/HERPIN DEWANTO PUTRO

Supporting facilities in the Luzhniki Stadium compound in Moscow, Russia, are being prepared on Saturday (9/6/2018) for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Luzhniki is the central stadium that will be host the opening match on June 14, when Russia will meet Saudi Arabia, as well as the World Cup final on July 15.

In most countries, Sundays are public holidays. However, this is not the case in Russia. Ahead of the 2018 World Cup, public offices remain busy on Sundays, including the civil registry bureau in Moscow.

These bureaus are at the front line of the Russian government’s efforts to prevent “unwanted guests” from launching terror attacks during the global soccer event.

These civil registry bureaus became one the busiest government offices in Russia after the issuance of Russian Presidential Decree No. 202 on May 9, 2017. The Russian government’s discretionary policy tightens the registration regulation for both Russian and foreign migrants in cities where the World Cup is to be hosted, including Moscow and St Petersburg.

“This is bureau-crazy! Yes, it’s madness,” Moscow resident Leonid Alabyan quipped in English on Sunday (10/6/2018).

That day, Leonid and his wife Olga Anders were forced to take time on their day off to accompany six Indonesian journalists, including Kompas, in registering their migrant status at the civil registry bureau in Moscow. Without the help from the two Muscovites, it would be next to impossible for the foreigners to do so on their own.

At the office, no officer spoke English well. Furthermore, all of the registration forms and supporting informational brochures were written in the Cyrillic alphabet, as was hard for foreigners to understand. Travelers were also required to show their passports as well as photocopies of all pages – empty pages as well as the ones with visa stamps.

Thanks to the regulation, the Russian government can monitor the movement of all foreigners in the country, including Russians who have just returned from abroad. “Before, the [migration] registration process was not this complicated. We [apartment and hotel owners] only needed to fill in short forms on [guests’] personal data and submit it to the police or the post office. There was no need for other [documents],” Olga explained.

The problem is that many Russians and foreigns travelers have yet to have complete information on this population-monitoring regulation, which was called “Propiska” during the Soviet Union era: basically, a regulation to “spy” on the people. Even though the procedures were technically free of charge, many foreigners ended up having to shell out plenty of money to obtain a temporary staying permit.

This was what happened to Indonesian journalist Candra Wahyudi. The Surabayan journalist had to pay 5,000 rubles, or around Rp 1.1 million (US$79.20), to process his migration registration. The owner of the apartment where he was staying asked him in person to pay the fee.

Candra had no other option but to pay, as he did not want a bigger problem if he decided not to register. Apart from a fine of thousands of rubles, whoever violates the registration regulation could also face imprisonment and deportation. “I decided to abide by the rules, no matter how much it cost me,” he said.

During registration, Candra was not asked to photocopy all pages of his passport. He just photocopied the personal data page. This way, he did not need to give his passport to his apartment owner and he could still carry it with him around Moscow.

Foreigners living in Russia are required to have their passports on their persons at all times. In several spots in downtown Moscow, such as at train stations, police officers randomly check tourists and ask for their passports. “If you don’t have your passport with you during these checks, you can spend an entire day at the police station until they can fully prove your identity,” said Olga.

Considering the tight monitoring of people, Russian journalist Albert Naryshkin said that he was optimistic the country would be able to prevent all terror threats. Earlier, the Russian and British intelligence services issued warnings on the high level of terror threats. “The [migration] registration spearheads the efforts to prevent terror. In Russia, no one can hide,” he said.

Increased security

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and Belarus, M Wahid Supriyadi, said that the Russian government had worked hard to increase security during the World Cup. “The World Cup is of a massive scale and terrorists can use it. Therefore, tightened security is necessary,” said Wahid.

However, Wahid said he encouraged Indonesians who were planning to come to Russia to watch the sports event not to be concerned about terror. Russia had implemented a high level of security, even if it was not always visible. Security was guaranteed and the Indonesian government had not issued a travel advisory for Indonesians planning to travel to Russia.

On Saturday, no increased security measures were visible in Moscow. No armed personnel were guarding airports or city centers. Increased security was felt only at specific locations, such as starred hotels and the stadiums that will host the World Cup.

(HERPIN DEWANTO)