Russia warned on migrant welfare

Far-right groups have been accused of attacking foreigners

The Russian government is facing renewed charges that it is not doing enough to protect migrant workers in the construction industry.

The accusation comes in a new report from the civil liberties group, Human Rights Watch.

It says migrants often work in unsafe conditions and are subjected to neglect and exploitation.

Government officials said they had imposed heavy fines on employers found to have broken the rules.

"Measures taken by the government are not sufficient," said Jane Buchanan of Human Rights Watch. "Amid an economic crisis, the risk of exploitation and abuse can only grow."

Nearly half of the nine million migrant workers in Russia get jobs in the building industry, but that has been hit hard hit by the economic slow-down.

Blame

Many of the migrants are from the former-Soviet republics of Central Asia.

Immigrant workers face regular police checks

"People don't leave their work sites because they are afraid of racist attacks," said researcher Maria Lisitsyna. "They are afraid of the police."

Some workers said they had to live in a cargo container and drink from puddles because they had no running water.

And about 1,000 people died on construction sites in 2007, according to government figures quoted by Human Rights Watch.

Government officials said they were trying to stop illegal employment and had imposed millions of dollars in fines on employers.

An official at the Federal Migration Service, Konstantin Poltoranin, was quoted as saying donor countries must also share the blame for sending workers who could not speak Russian and knew nothing about the law.

"The problem always arises with unqualified labour," he said.