CNN
—
The four people charged in last week's deadly terrorist attack on Moscow's Crocus City concert hall were quickly identified by Russian authorities as being from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
Hours after the attack, videos began appearing on Russian social media channels of police restraining and brutally abusing the alleged attackers, including one with part of his ear cut off. It appeared to show the child being cut out and then being shoved into his mouth. Authorities said the men were in Russia as migrant workers on temporary or expired visas.
Russians are understandably shocked and saddened by this attack. But in the days since then, that sentiment, combined with the disturbing video, appears to have sparked a wave of xenophobia from some quarters against Central Asian migrant workers in general.
CNN has seen posts on social media platform X showing people looking for taxis and asking them to cancel the ride if the driver is Tajik. A photo that purportedly captured the conversation read: “If you are Tajik, please cancel my ride.”
A barrage of abuse was also reportedly directed at a barbershop in the city of Ivanovo where one of the attackers worked. The store's owner told Russian journalists that her phone was ringing with death threats “constantly,” Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets quoted her as saying., “I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do.'' I'm afraid to go outside. ”
As a result, Russian President Vladimir Putin now finds himself in an increasingly delicate position regarding: To migrant workers, who play an important role in Russia's workforce, especially while Russia is at war.
Yulia Morozova/Reuters
Suspects in the shooting incident at the Crocus Town Hall concert venue, from left, Saidakrami Murodari Ratchabarizoda, Shamshiddin Fariduni, Dareljon Mirzoev, and Muhammad Sobir Faizov.
Perhaps wary of divisions in Russian society, President Putin on Wednesday called on Russia to remain united.
“We must never forget that we are a multinational, multireligious country. “You must always treat your representatives with respect,” he said.
Immigrants from the former Soviet Union's Central Asian countries (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan) have traditionally been a valuable source of cheap labor in Russia.
They typically work in jobs that many Russians feel are beneath them, such as taxi drivers, truck drivers, and supermarket workers. The money they send back in the form of remittances is an important driver of growth in their home countries.
But now many feel threatened. Valentina Chupik, a well-respected lawyer and immigration activist, told CNN that calls from Russian migrants requesting legal assistance had soared from 150 a day before the attack to more than 6,000 total as of Saturday. “That number has changed over time,” he said. Per minute. ”
Originally from Uzbekistan, Čupik now lives and works in Illinois, where she runs an NGO focused on immigrant welfare called Ton Jahoni. Her organization only provides free legal aid to migrants seeking help in Russia. She told CNN that while police are clearly cracking down on immigrants, she believes the Moscow attack is being used as a cover to expose the darker side of society.
“Police try to pretend that they are actively fighting ethnic crime and preventing terrorist attacks. In fact, they are looting immigrants. “There have been dozens of complaints about people stealing things they like,” she said.
Human Rights Watch notes in its annual World Report that “Russian police continue to racially profile non-Slavic immigrants and ethnic minorities, subject them to unfounded ID checks and detention in inhumane conditions. “, often over long periods of time.” Some have been physically assaulted. ”
Timur Umerov, a Central Asia expert at the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center in Berlin, told CNN. The Ukraine war led to a rapid increase in xenophobia in Russian society, especially among those who consider themselves Nazis or neo-Nazis.
“This has allowed them to speak their minds freely without being blocked or criticized by other parts of society because they are fighting for Russia. whether online or on the actual front (in Ukraine),” he said.
Yulia Morozova/Reuters
Ambulances and Russian emergency services vehicles were parked at the burning Crocus Town Hall concert venue.
A CNN analysis of several pro-war Russian Telegram channels and their messages in the wake of last Friday's attacks found clear xenophobia.
On one channel called GreyZone, which has 500,000 followers, one user posted the following comment: Don't take their taxi or buy anything from them. We need to spread the word. ”
A user on another channel with 200,000 followers suggested there was no room for sympathy for Russian immigrants. “It is important to remember that they are never victims, but the real executioners and murderers of good Russian people,” the user wrote. “There is no reason to pity them. They deserve nothing but contempt and will be immediately driven back to their homeland, the cesspool of Tajikistan.”
Against this backdrop of growing xenophobia, Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel warning to its citizens on Monday. People should refrain from traveling to Russian territory “until additional security measures are lifted and border crossing restrictions are tightened.”
“As an immigrant, it will be a very difficult time in Russia,” Umerov told CNN from Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent.
According to Umerov, there are about 7 million immigrants in Russia, about 80% of whom are from Central Asia.
“Migrants work for much lower salaries than ordinary Russians, but they are willing to work in more difficult and harsh conditions,” he said.
02:56 – Source: CNN
Russia expert explains why Putin treated US warning of possible terrorist attack as 'threat'
The salaries that Russia provides and the subsequent remittances that migrants send to their families serve the dual function of filling key jobs in the Russian labor market and boosting the GDP of the migrants' home countries.
In September 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development predicted that Central Asia's economic growth rate would reach 5.9% in 2024, with remittances contributing. According to the report, Tajikistan is expected to have the region's highest GDP growth rate, reaching 7.5% in 2023 and 2024, thanks in part to “an influx of remittances from Russia.”
Umerov pointed out that the economy has become increasingly dependent on migrant workers since President Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
“Immigration is extremely important for several sectors of the operation of the Russian economy. In some sectors, it would be impossible to maintain such stability without migrant labor,” Umerov said. “Russia desperately needs it. Without it it is impossible.”
Research by the Economic Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Reported by Izvestia newspaper in December, quoted by Reuters, It turns out that Russia is likely to be short of about 4.8 million workers in 2023, with some key sectors affected. construction, drivers, and retail.
The invasion of Ukraine had a significant impact on the available Russian labor force. Thousands of Russians have been mobilized to fight in Ukraine, and estimates suggest that thousands have already been killed. Hundreds of thousands more are believed to have fled the country in September 2022 after President Putin called for a partial mobilization.
Since the attack on Crocus City Hall, President Putin and his advisers, including his intelligence chief at home and abroad, have sought to justify accusations that Ukraine was somehow involved in the attack, without providing concrete evidence.
Ukraine and the West quickly shut down the concept.
But despite all evidence suggesting the attackers were radicalized by ISIS-K, a jihadist group known for targeting Tajik recruits, Putin condemned Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. It is not aimed at the target.
The Kremlin said on Sunday that Putin had met with Rahmon and that Russian and Tajik special forces “are working closely together in the field of counter-terrorism, and this effort will be strengthened.”
Umerov points out that Putin is walking a fine line. In a world where the Russian president, who has alienated the West with his war against Ukraine, has very few allies, it is hard to see him turning friends into enemies.
“President Putin simply cannot admit that there are problems in relations between Russia and Tajikistan, especially now,” Umerov said. “Tajikistan is one of President Putin's closest allies, and at a time when Russia is so isolated, it is not in a position to choose which countries it can build relations with.”
