Russian authorities have unleashed a frenzied crackdown on migrants in Russia in the aftermath of the Moscow concert shooting.
, Valentina Chupik, a human rights activist who has been working with migrants targeted in the crackdown, told The Daily Beast. The police are demanding bribes in order to let migrants go in some cases, Chupik said.
In one case, local authorities urged migrants to formalize some of their documents in Odintsovo, an area that restricts foreigners’ entry, she said. But when migrants began arriving this week, police allegedly began pulling them over and detaining them indiscriminately. One migrant from Uzbekistan told her he was beaten and jailed for 15 days for not following police instructions.
Some are fleeing the country to seek safety, Chupik said, recounting multiple phone calls she had recently received from migrants who were looking for advice on whether they should leave. Tajikistan’s Ministry of Labor said it has recorded a surge of citizens leaving Russia, while others are laying low by staying home from work, according to the BBC.
After ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre, the Russian government blamed the shooting on four men from Tajikistan, stoking alarm over connections between immigration and terrorism. According to Chupik, while the raids may look like they’re targeted at migrants, Russian authorities are also going after anyone who looks like they might be an immigrant—and more specifically, anyone who doesn’t have blue eyes and blond hair.
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