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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Departures of migrant workers from Russia to Tajikistan have increased following the March 22 attack at a concert hall near Moscow, according to the Tajik Ministry of Labor, Migration and Security. Employment.
More than a week ago, gunmen fired automatic weapons at concertgoers, killing at least 144 people, in the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades.
Four of the suspected shooters are Tajik citizens and were arrested along with seven other suspects, some of whom are also from the former Soviet Union in Central Asia.
“We are receiving a lot of calls. These are probably not harassment complaints, but fear of our citizens, panic, many want to leave. We are currently monitoring the situation, we have more people arriving ( in Tajikistan) than more people are leaving,” said Shakhnoza Nodiri, deputy director of the ministry, quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.
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Tajikistan this week arrested nine people suspected of having links to the shooting and to the Islamic State militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack, a Tajik security source told Reuters.
The labor shortage in the Russian economy could further worsen due to the exodus of migrant workers, with the deficit in the construction sector increasing by 36% this year compared to 2022, said Friday Anton Glushkov, president of the National Association of Builders, to the Interfax news agency.
The Russian Central Bank said staff shortages and resulting rising wages were among the inflation risks that forced it to keep its key interest rate high.
Tajikistan’s labor ministry expects the exodus of migrants from Russia to be temporary.
According to the ministry’s website, 652,014 migrant workers left the country in 2023, compared to 775,578 in 2022.
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya, written by Ksenia Orlova, French version Benjamin Mallet)
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