Russian authorities have begun deporting large numbers of Muslims in the wake of last week’s deadly Islamist state attack at a Moscow concert hall, in an effort that has been reportedly dubbed “Operation Anti-Migrant.”
According to The Moscow Times, anti-Islamic sentiment has soared in the aftermath of the attack, in which at least 144 people were killed and hundreds of more were wounded or in critical condition. Islamic State has since claimed responsibility for the massacre.
The Times notes:
Authorities in St. Petersburg have been deporting migrants en masse in the week since the deadly attack on a Moscow region concert hall, the legal rights group Perviy Otdel said Friday. More than 64 foreigners were deported from the city’s Vyborgsky district on Thursday alone, the NGO said, citing one of its unidentified lawyers.
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A number of buses carrying migrants were also headed to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport on Friday afternoon, they added. The countries where the migrants were being sent to were not specified, though it is known that labor migrants in Russia mostly hail from poor Central Asian countries.
The four men accused of carrying out the attack were from Tajikistan, a majority Muslim country that does not share a border with Russia.
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Mass deportation of Muslims going on in Russia after the theater attack
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RadioFreeEurope reported:
Russia is deporting hundreds of foreigners for immigration violations in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in nearly two decades. Meanwhile, many Tajik migrant workers are leaving the country on their own accord, fearing an increase in xenophobia.
Russian law enforcement has carried out sweeping checks of immigrants in the country after gunmen on March 22 killed 144 people at a concert hall near Moscow. Four of the suspected gunmen are Tajik citizens.
Courts in St. Petersburg this week ruled to deport 418 foreign citizens while another 48 must leave on their own accord, spokeswoman Daria Lebedeva said in a post on Telegram. The foreigners were rounded up in Russia’s second-largest city during broad searches of vehicles along major thoroughfares. Other cities are carrying out checks of migrant workers as well.
Islam is officially recognized in Russia as one of the country’s sanctioned religions, while Muslims represent around 14 percent of the its overall population.
However, there have long been tensions between Moscow and Muslim-majority such as Chechnya and Dagestan, where separatist movements seek to set up their own Islamic republics.
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