Migrants in Russia Under Increased Attention from Law Enforcement

Immediately following the terrorist attack involving Central Asian migrants at Crocus City Hall, law enforcement authorities have intensified inspections of companies in the consumer sector and construction industry, where foreign workers make up a significant portion of the workforce. Following an inspection that took place on March 27 at the Wildberries warehouse near Moscow, 38 individuals were arrested.

Businesses that hire migrants face serious penalties for violations, such as a fine of 1 million rubles for each illegal foreign worker or a three-month suspension of operations. However, market participants cannot quickly dismiss labor migrants or significantly reduce their numbers, as the Russian economy is heavily reliant on such labor, reports kommersant.ru.

In the wake of the March 22 terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, which resulted in the deaths of 143 people, businesses that are forced to hire individuals from Central Asia are beginning to face inspections from migration services. Representatives from retail and construction industry companies shared this information with kommersant.ru.

On March 27, law enforcement officials inspected the documents of migrants working at the Wildberries warehouse in Electrostel, near Moscow. As a result, 38 employees from the warehouse will undergo further scrutiny from law enforcement, according to the company. A source from a company managing residential buildings noted that inspections of the documents of labor migrants have begun at some of their sites.

Inspections are ongoing regarding the reliability of workers in the housing and utility services sector, said Nikita Chulochnikov, president of the association of property management companies. A contact from a development company revealed that migrant construction workers who might have issues with their documents were temporarily removed from work and sent to a migration center for verification of their work permits. Videos showing large queues at a center similar to the Sakharov Center in Moscow surfaced on social media on March 27. Official representatives of the businesses declined to comment on this issue. The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not respond to the media's inquiry. For more details, visit the original source website.