Russia’s biggest umbrella NGO that deals with migrants’ problems, Forum of Migrants’ Organizations, has announced end of its operation in Russia, the Ekho Moskvy radio station reported Sunday.
The Forum’s basic foreign sponsors have practically stopped the funding because of the Russia’s expected toughening on NGOs, the organization’s chairperson Lidia Grafova said.
The bill that would require local branches of foreign NGOs to reregister as de-facto Russian entities, subject to stricter financial and legal restrictions, was approved by the Russian State Duma (lower chamber of parliament) in the first of three required readings.
After many foreign rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, harshly criticized the draft law, President Putin promised to introduce amendments.
However until the final decision, sponsors who fund Forum of Migrants’ Organizations have frozen the funding.
The Forum was founded in 1996 to deal with the problem of migration in the multinational Russia. Today it consists of 198 self-assistance organizations in 47 Russian regions. http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/11/ngoleaving.shtml
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