By Driving Out Migrant Workers, Moscow Intensifying Anti-Russian Attitudes in Central Asia, OCST Secretary General Warns

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Apr. 2 – Imangali Tasmagambetov, the Kazakh diplomat who currently serves as secretary general of the Organization for the Collective Security Treaty (OCST), says that if Moscow drives out migrant workers either by official policy or by tolerating migrantophobia among Russians, the Kremlin will face a rising tide of Russophobia in Central Asia.

            And that attitude, he continues “inevitably” will have an impact on relations between the countries of the region and the Russian Federation, exactly what the terrorists who attacked the Crocus City Hall venue hoped for (eurasiatoday.ru/gensek-odkb-ottok-migrantov-iz-rf-aktiviziruet-rusofobskie-nastroeniya-v-tsentralnoj-azii/).

            The Kremlin undoubtedly recognizes this danger but likely has decided that it can do little in the short term to rein in xenophobia not only among the Russian people but also among Russian politicians and officials who have taken their lead from Vladimir Putin whose statements and policies have stoked Russian nationalist attitudes and hostility to non-Russians.