A pro-Kremlin lawmaker has proposed legislation that would ban convicted child sex offenders from entering Russia for 50 years.
State Duma Deputy Alexander Sidyakin, of United Russia, said Russia needed to create a "migration security barrier" that would block entry by foreigners convicted of molesting children, distributing child pornography and engaging in other sex crimes.
Sidyakin suggested that the ban be kept in place for 50 years from the time of the conviction, according to an amendment to the law "Procedures to Enter and Exit the Russian Federation" that he unveiled Monday.
The bill won quickly approval from children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov. "Children need to be protected from individuals who have been previously prosecuted for crimes against their sexual integrity and those who have committed other sexual acts against them," Astakhov said, according to the ombudsman's .
He added that this pertains to "foreigners, Russian citizens, and stateless individuals."
Sidyakin's plan would be difficult to implement because there is no comprehensive global database that catalogues sex offenders. Astakhov suggested correcting this problem by creating an index of pedophiles that specifies each felon's citizenship.
The amendment is just one example of a wave of recent attempts to combat pedophilia within the country. Sergei Zhelezniak, the Duma deputy speaker, has been a particularly strong proponent of the movement and has taken steps to ban Benjamin Britten's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and has initiated legislation to prohibit sex-service advertisements.
A copy of Sidyakin's proposal is available on the State Duma website.
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