MOSCOW – Russia said yesterday it had expelled more than 80 000 migrants in 2024, nearly twice as many as in 2023, as the country toughens migration policies after last year’s Crocus City Hall terror attack.

More than 140 people were killed in the attack on the conference centre in March, which was allegedly carried out by Tajik nationals and claimed by the Islamic State group.

“More than 80 000 migrants and stateless persons were expelled from Russia by court order,” the TASS state news agency reported, citing bailiff services.

The number of expulsions in 2023 was 44 200, TASS said. The report did not specify the nationalities of those expelled but most migrants in Russia are labourers from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.

An expulsion order usually means that the person is banned from entering Russia for a period of five years.

Raids against migrants have increased since the Crocus attack and officials have toughened anti-migrant rhetoric.

In September, parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said lawmakers were working on 34 pieces of migrant-related legislation, including to stop family reunifications and ban migrants from certain jobs.

Several lawmakers have also proposed expelling any migrants who do not speak Russian.

But the economy depends on migration due to a deep demographic crisis and the more recent reduction in the labour force due to the campaign in Ukraine.

Russia had relaxed laws to make it easier for migrants to obtain Russian citizenship, but naturalised citizens now need to register for army service or risk losing their passports and being expelled.

Some 10 000 of these naturalised Russians have joined Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, according to numbers released by Russian authorities last year. 

-Nampa/AFP