DUSHANBE, March 11, 2013, Asia-Plus — Six labor migrants from Tajikistan have been attacked in Moscow.
According to Tajik migration service agency’s office in the Russian Federation, the incident took place near the “Tyoply Stan” subway station in the morning of March 9. An unknown person armed with knife attacked Nazrisho Sherov, 30, from Vanj district, Jourabek Zhorakov, 38, from Vanj district, Manouchehr Nekqadamov, 25, from Shugnan) district, Mustafo Ghafourov, 21, from the city of Norak and Rustam Misqolov, 26, from Norak, and inflicted stab wounds of them.
“All of them were taken to the Sklifosovky Emergency Medical Institute and physicians now assess their health condition as satisfactory,” the source said.
One more Tajik national was attacked in the Russian city of Ryazan in the morning of March 8. Four persons in a state of drunkenness reportedly attacked Sharif and inflicted a stab wound on him.
Meanwhile, an article “Discrimination, Often Violent, Impacts Thousands of Central Asian Migrants in Russia” posted on the Global Observatory’s website notes that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on February 12 held an interactive dialogue with Russian NGOs, who emphasized discrimination and violence against migrant workers from Central Asia. Several Russian NGOs submitted an alternative report to the committee, documenting the alarming number of racist and neo-Nazi violent attacks over the last decade. Between 2004 and 2012, 556 people were murdered in far-right attacks in Russia, and an additional 3,507 people were beaten or wounded; 220 of those killed and 568 of those beaten or wounded were Central Asian migrants. These numbers reveal a frightening socio-political climate in Russia, particularly for migrants from the former Soviet republics.
Russia’s economy reportedly depends upon an estimated ten to twelve million migrant laborers, most hailing from post-Soviet nations like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Only two million are in Russia legally, with work and residency permits, while the remainder live under vulnerable conditions without civil or labor protections.
