MOSCOW: Since the tragic attack on a concert hall in the Moscow region, authorities in St. Petersburg have initiated a wave of mass deportations of migrants, as reported by the legal rights group Perviy Otdel.
According to the NGO, over 64 foreign nationals were expelled from the Vyborgsky district of the city on Thursday alone, as stated by one of their anonymous lawyers.
“The detention facilities for foreign citizens are overflowing, with specialized vehicles and buses transporting them to the airport,” the lawyer revealed.
Additionally, several buses carrying migrants were observed heading towards St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport on Friday afternoon.
While the specific destinations of these deportations were not disclosed, it is recognized that labor migrants in Russia predominantly originate from impoverished Central Asian nations.
Reportedly dubbed “Operation Anti-Migrant” by bailiffs, St. Petersburg’s mass expulsion efforts involve raids targeting local hostels and apartments, akin to similar actions observed in Moscow and other Russian cities.
The assault on Crocus City Hall by four assailants, later identified as Tajik nationals, resulted in 144 fatalities and 382 injuries, fueling a surge in anti-immigrant sentiments.
Furthermore, four additional suspects, also of Tajik origin, have been detained this week pending trial, alongside a ninth suspected accomplice from neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State, has claimed responsibility for the massacre. Russia attributes the deadliest attack on its soil since the 2004 Beslan school siege to radical Islamists, Ukraine, and its Western allies.
