VLADIVOSTOK, August 27. /TASS/. Migrant laborers working in Russia’s Far East are being recruited to join the Islamic State militant group, the head of the Kremlin’s Security Council said on Thursday.
"Today, with the development of Internet communications and appearance of various social networking sites, the distances separating the Far East from other regions of the world, including the Middle East, can no longer hamper attempts to recruit migrant workers to join Islamic State," Security Council secretary Nikolay Patrushev, currently on a visit to Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok, told TASS.
"Both in taiga settlements and in big cities of the Far East, nationals of other states are trying to illegally gain legal status. There can be suspects of being aliases for international terrorist and extremist organizations and illegal armed groups among them," Patrushev said.
He repeatedly highlighted the importance of resolving the demographic problem of the region. Against the backdrop of a steady inflow of foreign nationals, "there is a continuing outflow of people to central regions of the country", Patrushev said, noting in particular highly qualified specialists and skilled workers among those choosing to leave.
Speaking about the situation in the region as a whole, Patrushev said: "To a greater or lesser extent, there are threats to national security here typical for the entire country, but there are also some peculiarities". He noted a number of non-government organizations in the region financed from abroad, "which are trying to impose certain political views on most active young people, students as a rule".
At the same time, Patrushev stressed that overall, the situation in this part of the country remained under control. "The Far East is a stable region as a whole. We can manage and control the situation here," he said.