Russian authorities have been deporting Muslim migrants en masse from cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg in the week since the deadly terror attack on a Moscow concert hall, according to local reports.
“Temporary detention centers for foreign citizens are packed, surrounded by special vehicles and buses heading to the airport,” said a lawyer for Perviy Otdel, a human rights group.
Scores of migrants were deported from the city’s Vyborgsky district on Thursday alone, the legal rights group said Friday.
Busloads of migrants were also sent directly to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport for immediate deportation on Friday afternoon, they added, as Russian authorities waste no time clearing house.
The deportation countries of the migrants has not been announced, though most Muslim migrants in Russia come from Islamic Central Asian countries.
Moscow Times reports: Bailiffs reportedly refer to St. Petersburg’s mass deportations as “Operation Anti-Migrant,” with raids targeting local hostels and apartments.
Similar raids were reported in Moscow and other Russian cities.
Anti-immigrant sentiment surged after four gunmen — who were later identified as Tajik nationals — stormed Crocus City Hall last Friday, killing 144 people and injuring 382 in the shooting and massive fire at the popular concert venue.
Four other suspects placed in pre-trial detention this week are also originally from Tajikistan. A ninth suspected accomplice is from neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
Islamic State affiliate ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the massacre. Russia has blamed radical Islamists, Ukraine and its Western allies for the deadliest attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege.
President Putin waited two days before pointing the finger of blame at the “father of ISIS,” former US president Barack Obama.