Even before Russian authorities officially charged four men from Tajikistan with terrorism for gunning down concertgoers and trapping others in a deadly inferno at a venue outside of Moscow, there were fears that public anger over the attack could be directed at the millions of Central Asian migrants living and working in the country.
A few hours before the badly beaten suspects were hauled to court after their violent interrogations, the president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin that terrorists have “no nationality, no homeland and no religion.”
In the days since the attack, there have been reports of Central Asian migrants being targeted by authorities in workplace raids, as well as subjected to hateful comments and, in a few reported cases, violence.
The Tajikistan embassy in Russia warned its citizens over the weekend not to leave their homes unless necessary, and one migrant advocate told CBC …