Migrants Expelled En Masse From St. Petersburg, Following Moscow

The large-scale operation is called “Anti-migrant”.

A large-scale operation to search and deport migrants has begun in St. Petersburg, the First Department organization reports, citing a lawyer who defends some foreign citizens.

“You cannot approach temporary detention centers for foreign citizens. There is a lot of special equipment and buses around for traveling to the airport. There are also raids on dormitories and apartments. All special detention centers are overcrowded,” the lawyer said. He added that bailiffs call it “Operation Anti-migrant.”

According to the defense lawyer, on March 29, several buses with detainees, in respect of whom a decision on deportation had been made, left for Pulkovo airport. A day earlier, more than 64 foreign citizens were deported from the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg alone. “Two full planes took off,” the defender said.

Earlier it became known that in Moscow there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of violation of the rules of entry into Russia by foreigners (Article 18.8 of the Administrative Code). Basically they talk about expulsion from the country. “The police catch almost all migrants on the street, especially if they have Tajik passports. Everyone is taken to the department and checked,” said one of the lawyers.

After the attack on Crocus City Hall, raids on migrant workers intensified in Russian cities. In addition, 10 Russian regions have introduced work restrictions for them. Thus, the authorities of the Novgorod region banned foreigners with a license from driving taxis and buses, as well as selling alcohol. Previously, a ban on the work of migrants in certain industries was introduced in the Chelyabinsk, Magadan, Kaliningrad, Tula, Novosibirsk, Tyumen and Kaluga regions, as well as in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Ugra and Yakutia.