After deadly Moscow terror attack, authorities have targeted vulnerable scapegoats.
President Vladimir Putin’s failure to halt a lethal terror attack by Tajik militants in Moscow last month has had some crushing side effects for Russia’s immigrants and ethnic minorities.
While the Kremlin has internationally pinned the blame on Ukraine, the U.S. and Britain for the terror attack, domestically it has found more vulnerable scapegoats, intensifying a crackdown on migrants, central Asians and non-white Russians.
Since the Crocus City Hall attack on March 22 — which led to the deaths of 143 people and was claimed by a branch of the Islamic State group — Russian police have been conducting raids on migrant dormitories in several cities, while non-white people have been searched on the streets.
In late March some 40 migrants were detained at their place of work 60 kilometers from Moscow. Law enforcement agencies also conducted a major operation including mass searches and the immediate arraignment of people accused of breaking migration laws. As a result, 466 individuals were sentenced to expulsion from Russia.
Central Asian authorities from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan — traditional countries of origin for many migrants to Russia — have all issued statements advising their citizens not to participate in mass events in Russia and to stay home.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
President Vladimir Putin’s failure to halt a lethal terror attack by Tajik militants in Moscow last month has had some crushing side effects for Russia’s immigrants and ethnic minorities.
While the Kremlin has internationally pinned the blame on Ukraine, the U.S. and Britain for the terror attack, domestically it has found more vulnerable scapegoats, intensifying a crackdown on migrants, central Asians and non-white Russians.
The diversity and strength of our common homeland — Russia — have been and still are in the mutual enrichment of cultures, traditions, and religions,” he said in 2015 at the opening ceremony of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque.
This statement, which starkly contradicts figures provided by the Russian interior ministry, is illustrative of a campaign against migrants launched by law enforcement following the Crocus attack.
“We can’t say anything about mass sentiment because it’s not measured that quickly,” Alexander Verkhovsky, head of the Sova Research Center, which monitors nationalism and xenophobia in Russia, told POLITICO.
“In the first days of shock [after the Crocus attack] there were indeed more appeals than usual, and they were related not only to requests for psychological help but also for consultations with a lawyer on what the risks are and whether people should leave Russia,” she said.
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