Migrants under pressure: Tajiks face the consequences of terrorist attacks in Russia

Migrants under pressure in Moscow

After the terrorist attack at the Moscow “Crocus City Hall,” for which several citizens of Tajikistan are accused, Tajik nationals in Russia have faced increased levels of ethnic hostility, fear, and mistrust from the local population. They have become targets of attacks, workplace discrimination, as well as assaults and threats from xenophobic groups.

On the morning after March 22, messages about beatings appeared in Tajik community chats. Tajikistanis warned each other not to be outside in the evenings. As Rustam, a worker living in Moscow, told “Novaya Gazeta Evropa,” he doesn’t plan to go to work in the coming days because he fears attack.

Street attacks on Tajikistanis have occurred in Moscow, the Moscow region town of Fryazino, and Blagoveshchensk. According to “Mediazona,” observers documenting videos of street violence by far-right groups report that in the past few days, videos have emerged showing at least four people being sprayed with gas from pepper spray canisters and five others being beaten.

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The Russian government is also monitoring the activity of citizens from Tajikistan on social media. In St. Petersburg, a 26-year-old Tajik citizen was charged with terrorism justification for comments about the terrorist attack at “Crocus City Hall” in Moscow.

Across the country, raids on migrants are taking place. On March 27, the police and Rosgvardia checked the documents of migrants working at the Wildberries warehouse in the Moscow suburb of Elektrostal.

Since March 23, such raids have taken place in Moscow, Moscow region, Volgograd, Tula, annexed Sevastopol, Saratov, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, Nizhnevartovsk, and Nefteyugansk. Police mostly draw up protocols for migrants violating migration laws, and some are required to leave the country.

“We hope we won’t be deported. The recent events in Moscow deeply saddened us. In recent years, the situation with migrants has been difficult. Hopefully, everything will improve, and we can continue working,” said Firdavs Zaymuddinov, who works at a construction site in the Samara region, to Your.tj.

Such close attention from the police and special services puts pressure on employers, who find it easier to terminate (often improperly documented) labor relations with an employee than undergo constant checks and endure sudden raids.

“Employers haven’t told us anything personally. But I heard them say that all these non-Russians should be sent back to their homeland. Now, after these events, we rarely go out on the streets and are cautious,” said Farhodi Dilfigor, a builder from Mytishchi, near Moscow, to Your.tj.

Amid the raids and crackdowns, the Russian Ministry of Labor proposed limiting labor contracts with migrant workers to two years. Additionally, the Ministry of Labor proposed introducing mandatory fingerprinting for migrants. They also want foreigners to provide documentary evidence of their proficiency in Russian, as well as knowledge of Russian legislation and history.

Migrants also face other problems – they are refused service, rental agreements are terminated, and they are denied the most basic human rights.

According to Russian demographers, to maintain production at the current level, Russia needs to attract 390,000 migrant workers annually. Therefore, the participation of labor migrants from Central Asian countries plays a crucial role in maintaining and developing Russian infrastructure, construction, and agriculture.

Russian authorities act without regard to the fact that such treatment of migrants harms not only their safety but primarily the economic development of Russia. Because amid war and tightening migration policies, fewer people want to go there to work.

Zhenya Snezhkina,

Media Network