Migrant workers are enduring persecution across Russia following the terrorist attack on the CrocusCity Hall entertainment complex outside Moscow in late March. The crackdown has resulted in mass detentions and the expulsion of guest workers.
Moscow experienced its deadliest terrorist attack in the last 20 years on March 22, an episode that claimed the lives of 144 people. Four leading suspects detained in the aftermath of the attack turned out to be citizens of Tajikistan. Since then, the wave of migrant-phobia has intensified in Russia. Russian authorities have tightened immigration rules for Central Asia laborers, and foreigners in many cities have experienced blatant discrimination, and even assaults, according to media accounts.
In the days after the terrorist tragedy, reports circulated that labor migrants spent more than 24 hours at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport waiting to enter the country. A Kyrgyz citizens told RFE/RL’s Radio Azattyk that Russian authorities offered no explanation for the delays, even in cases where travelers’ entry documents were in order.
Russian police conducted raids on locations in cities nationwide where large groups of migrants are known to live and work. The Baza Telegram channel also reported special police squads were organized to check foreigners’ documents at hostels and on highways.
During the week-long period from March 23-29, the Important History Telegram channel reported that Moscow courts received 1,493 cases involving the alleged illegal entry by migrants (Article 18.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). Many of the accused had Central Asian surnames.
In St. Petersburg, there were 515 judicial proceedings against suspected illegal migrants between March 25-29: deportation orders were issued in 466 of those cases. Of those facing deportation orders, 418 were subject to “forced deportation” with detention, and 48 people were given “controlled independent departure” from the country.
On March 29, St. Petersburg police conducted a “large-scale preventive” operation at entrances to the city. Police checked the documents of almost 1,500 foreigners, issuing about 300 citations for violations of traffic rules and migration laws. The operation also resulted in about a dozen criminal investigations, mainly concerning theft and document forgery.
Valentina Chupik, a human rights lawyer, told Mediazona that since the March 22 terrorist attack, she has received over 8,500 queries from foreigners in Russia, of which almost three-quarters are related to illegal detentions.
Chupik described police tactics as “organized Nazism,” adding that security forces routinely used random violence against detainees. Lots of migrants are being arbitrarily deported, she added. “We have written 614 applications for illegal deportations to the courts of appeal,” says Chupik.
Police are targeting anyone with Asiatic features, Chupik alleged. Thus, Russian citizens from autonomous regions such as Yakutia and Kalmykia have found themselves detained amid the security sweep. Some in detention have been held incommunicado, according to friends and relatives of those in custody.
“My son is the only breadwinner of the family. We only know that [he was] detained along with several other Tajiks. We don’t know where they were taken and what happened to them,” a Tajik citizen told Radio Azattyk.
Russia’s Interior Ministry has drafted a bill in which the period of temporary stay for foreigners can be reduced to 90 days out of a 365-day period. Currently, the temporary stay period is twice as long. In addition, authorities are working to establish a single database in which digital profiles of migrants will be stored, including photos and biometric data.
Sergei Mironov, head of the “A Just Russia—For Truth” faction in the State Duma, is pushing for the government to abolish visa-free travel rules for citizens of Central Asian states, citing a need for order. “Open borders are taken advantage of by our enemies, who use neighboring states as a springboard for preparing subversive activities against our country,” Mironov said.
It is unlikely that Mironov’s proposal will go anywhere. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Kremlin has needed Central Asian states to serve as a back door for trade that circumvents Western sanctions and sustains the country’s military machine. This gives Central Asian states lots of leverage.
Chupik predicted that economics will soon trump other factors and the crackdown will ease in the coming months. Especially amid the war, a demographically challenged Russia is grappling with a severe labor shortage, Chupik noted.
“If they introduce a visa regime, then, firstly, there will be no one to work for them at all. Secondly, then they can forget about avoiding sanctions. Thirdly, introducing a visa regime means protecting the border. Who will guard it? The border with Kazakhstan is practically unpatrolled. There are border guards only at checkpoints,” Chupik said.
While the crackdown may ease, public attitudes could remain hardened. Random beatings are reportedly occurring across the country. In Blagoveshchensk, capital of the Amur Region bordering China, a 43-year-old migrant Rakhmon recounted to Novaya Gazeta how he was jumped by a couple of young toughs near the entrance of his apartment building. “I didn’t even go to the police because I was scared. They beat me, it hurts and humiliates me, but the police can put me in jail,” he was quoted as saying by Novaya Gazeta.
Tajik nationals seem to be bearing the brunt of the wave of prejudice. There have been reported instances of landlords demanding that Tajiks immediately vacate their dwellings. Many of those already in Russia are looking for ways to go home, while would-be labor migrants still in Tajikistan are having second thoughts. An official at Tajikistan’s Ministry of Labor told the TASS news agency that in the weeks since the Moscow terrorist tragedy “more people are coming [to Tajikistan] than leaving.”
