MOSCOW, February 10. /ITAR-TASS/. Chairman of the Russian Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov supports the government’s draft law to allow refugees and people with temporary asylum in Russia to seek employment without a work permit.

It was a well-established practice now, but not a legislated one, he added approving of the upcoming law at a news conference in Moscow on Monday. Fedotov suggested amendments giving right to work to people who have applied for refugee status.

“We cannot undertake to provide social aid, we are not obliged to sustain them - we should give them an opportunity to earn a roof over their heads,” he believes.

The explanatory note to the bill says “access to the labor market for foreign citizens mentioned in the bill will help them earn their living in Russia and promote their social adaptation” since Russian law does not offer them any aid. The law will allow foreign citizens to have jobs without a work permit until they lose their status.