A mass raid took place yesterday in Moscow against illegal immigration, a measure that national authorities deemed appropriate after the explosion of xenophobic protests last Sunday. Violence, broken windows, injured agents, and shops lit on fire in a fruit and vegetable market: for one day, Moscow was the theatre of urban guerrilla warfare. During the raid, more than 1200 people were checked for ID—mostly immigrants coming from the North Caucasus and ex-USSR republics in Central Asia such as Tajikistan. Of the 380 people detained on Sunday, some have been released, others will face administrative detention or fines, and many will be deported.
According to statistics announced by the Federal Migration Service, there are an estimated three million illegal immigrants in Russia and 11 million legal visitors—this means that immigration and anti-immigration policies have been high on the agenda of Russian politics. Many of these illegal immigrants are Muslim. In fact, xenophobic clashes are not uncommon in Russia, but the one that took place on Sunday has been the worst in the country since the violent nationalist rally of December 2010. This event has brought back a delicate, omnipresent national issue that seems to resurface every few years. The spark that ignited the protests in the neighborhood of Birjuljovo was the stabbing of 25-year-old Yegor Shcherbakov, after it was reported that his killer could have had been from Central Asia or the Caucasus.
The raid took place at a market where workers were primarily immigrants. The fruit and vegetable market, where it is said that the suspected killer works, was also closed. The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection had found some "irregularities" and had therefore decided to temporarily shut down the businesses.
In the meantime, the leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, has launched a petition to forbid the access to the country to nationals that have no visa coming from former Soviet republics. So far, the petition has reached 2000 signatures and, if it reaches 100,000, it will have to be taken into consideration by the Duma. The petition has attracted the support of those who, like in many other countries, consider that immigration leads to higher criminal rates as well as lost job opportunities for natives, without adding any productivity to the national economy.
Hate grows on the streets of Moscow as an Azerbaijani man has been named as the suspect of the murder of Shcherbakov. In the mean time, the tension increases as the most sacred holiday for Muslims, Eid al-Adha, draws near; Russians have been advised by the authorities to stay inside their homes.
a global affairs media network
Video Wednesday: Russia on the Hunt for Immigrants
October 16, 2013
A mass raid took place yesterday in Moscow against illegal immigration, a measure that national authorities deemed appropriate after the explosion of xenophobic protests last Sunday. Violence, broken windows, injured agents, and shops lit on fire in a fruit and vegetable market: for one day, Moscow was the theatre of urban guerrilla warfare. During the raid, more than 1200 people were checked for ID—mostly immigrants coming from the North Caucasus and ex-USSR republics in Central Asia such as Tajikistan. Of the 380 people detained on Sunday, some have been released, others will face administrative detention or fines, and many will be deported.
According to statistics announced by the Federal Migration Service, there are an estimated three million illegal immigrants in Russia and 11 million legal visitors—this means that immigration and anti-immigration policies have been high on the agenda of Russian politics. Many of these illegal immigrants are Muslim. In fact, xenophobic clashes are not uncommon in Russia, but the one that took place on Sunday has been the worst in the country since the violent nationalist rally of December 2010. This event has brought back a delicate, omnipresent national issue that seems to resurface every few years. The spark that ignited the protests in the neighborhood of Birjuljovo was the stabbing of 25-year-old Yegor Shcherbakov, after it was reported that his killer could have had been from Central Asia or the Caucasus.
The raid took place at a market where workers were primarily immigrants. The fruit and vegetable market, where it is said that the suspected killer works, was also closed. The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection had found some "irregularities" and had therefore decided to temporarily shut down the businesses.
In the meantime, the leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, has launched a petition to forbid the access to the country to nationals that have no visa coming from former Soviet republics. So far, the petition has reached 2000 signatures and, if it reaches 100,000, it will have to be taken into consideration by the Duma. The petition has attracted the support of those who, like in many other countries, consider that immigration leads to higher criminal rates as well as lost job opportunities for natives, without adding any productivity to the national economy.
Hate grows on the streets of Moscow as an Azerbaijani man has been named as the suspect of the murder of Shcherbakov. In the mean time, the tension increases as the most sacred holiday for Muslims, Eid al-Adha, draws near; Russians have been advised by the authorities to stay inside their homes.
