<
https://theconversation.com/why-russia-fears-the-emergence-of-tajik-terrorists-226559>
"It has emerged that the four gunmen charged in the murder of at least 139
concert-goers at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall theatre were all citizens of the
small post-Soviet nation of Tajikistan in Central Asia.
Does their nationality have anything to do with their alleged terrorism? Many
Russians probably think so.
Tajikistan, a landlocked country of 10 million sandwiched between Uzbekistan,
Afghanistan and China, is the most impoverished of the former Soviet republics.
Known for its corruption and political repression, it has chafed under the
iron-fisted rule of President Emomali Rahmon since 1994.
There are estimated to be well over three million Tajiks living in Russia,
about one-third of the total Tajik population. Most of them hold the precarious
status of “guest workers,” holding low-paying jobs in construction, produce
markets or even cleaning public toilets.
While Russia’s declining population has led to increasing reliance on foreign
workers to fill such needs within its labour force, the attitude of Russians
towards natives of Central Asia and the Caucasus region is generally negative.
It’s similar to the American stereotype about Mexicans so infamously expressed
by Donald Trump in 2015: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime.
They’re rapists.”
Non-Slavs are systematically discriminated against in Russia, and since 2022
they have been disproportionately conscripted and sent to Ukraine to serve as
cannon fodder at the front."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
