Against the background of the Russian-Georgian conflict the Russian authorities organized the widespread campaign against migrants from Georgia. Human rights activists have been raising alarm. They consider unceasing check-ups as ethnic crackdowns and authorities’ actions – as racial discrimination. (11-OCT-06)
Text: HRH/Moscow, by Yanina Savenko. Sources: demos-center.ru, hro.org, newsru.com, svobodanews.ru
The present crisis began when Georgian authorities arrested a few Russian officers in Tbilisi, accusing them of espionage. Soon afterwards the detained were dispatched to Moscow through the mediation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. However, sanctions and transport blockade, introduced by the Russian Federation, are still valid. On October, 6th the law-enforcement bodies deported from the Russian Federation 143 citizens of Georgia, whom the authorities had called illegal immigrants and criminal elements. “Many citizens of Georgia stayed here with visas and registrations but, unfortunately despite this fact the decision about their deportation was made”, – said Georgia Consul in Moscow Zurab Pataradze.
Economic sanctions became ethnic crackdowns on migrants
the Russian Federation stopped giving visas to Georgia citizens. Furthermore the Russian Federation cut all means of communication with Georgia – railway communication and air communication, bus service, surface and sea transportation – and even introduced the mail blockade, including a ban on postal money order. In the capital and other cities police has been conducting numerous check-ups in shopping, entertaining and cultural centres, belonging to natives of Georgia or connected with Georgian culture. In Moscow 5 casinos and a few Georgian restaurants were closed, because “of their criminal connection with Georgia” and also because “some Georgia criminals had dined in the restaurant”… In the center of Moscow employees from the restaurant “Guriya” were detained. According to witnesses policemen checked passports of all visitors of the restaurant. If they found a Georgian with rightly drawn up documents they took money from him and if he had no documents on him they took him to a police office. Besides, all shops, belonging to Georgians on markets were closed, according to the President statement “to take extra measures on markets with a view to protect interests of Russian native population”. Head of the Georgian community Teymuraz Sturua said that policemen, checking Moscow markets, had demanded sellers to show a trade permit and if they had seen Georgian name on it they had torn the document in pieces.
Fascism is coming…
Heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) gave a verbal order “to take the most strict mesures” toward Georgian organizations in the Russian Federation and to pay attention to every trifle. Ordinary MIA employees took the order with enthusiasm and soon there were a few incidents with migrants in Moscow markets. Moreover, policemen often come to private apartments, detain whole Georgian families and take them to police offices. Recently arrests of Caucasians (on suspicion of their Georgian background) in Metro have become everyday routine. “To take people to police office on the basis of their nationality it is the same as in fascist Germany, where there were raids on Jews”, said head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Ludmila Alekseeva. Besides, in Tbilisi, Batumi and Alkalkhalaki in three schools, belonging to Russian military units, Georgian children were not allowed to attend classes and all Georgian teachers and staff were fired in compliance with the order of the Russian Ministry of Defense. At the same time in Moscow strangers killed well-known Georgian sportsman Georgy Gvichiani. His relatives believe that he became the victim of nationalists.
Protest of human rights activists
“Such attitude to people takes us back to Stalin’s epoch, when the State didn’t care for individuals and civil rights”, said deputy of the Moscow municipal Duma Sergey Mitrokhin. Memorial society prepared an open letter to authorities that was supported by other human rights activists: “We are indignant at chauvinistic campaign launched in the Russian Federation with open support of the authorities. Making all Georgian citizens responsible for actions of their government, which leaders of the Russian Federation don’t like, demonstrate again total neglect of Russian authorities of principles and rules of Law. Prohibitions and constraint toward citizens of certain country – Georgia – and especially toward Georgians by birth is nothing more than racial discrimination”.
