November 10, 2024

From immigrant to emigrant


From immigrant to emigrant
A Russian passport The Russian Life files

A new Russian government program has led to the deportation of 20,000 foreigners living in Russia, according to state news outlet Izvestia.

The initiative, called Operation "Illegal-2024," is a joint effort between the FSB (Russia's internal security service), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Rosfinmonitoring, an agency dedicated to uncovering financial crimes and overseeing transactions. Illegal-2024 discovered 106,000 infractions of immigration law and opened 700 criminal cases. As a result, 20,000 immigrants have been deported.

This development is only the latest in a crackdown on immigration in Russia. The turn began with the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in March 2024, which was committed by men of Central Asian descent with ties to the Islamic State. Since then, the Russian state has cut benefits to immigrants and sharply dropped the number of incoming foreigners.

As a consequence, Russia's labor market has seen upheaval.

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