Ethnically-Based Criminal Groups Increasingly Active in Russia but Crimes by Foreign Nationals Down Overall, Investigative Committee Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 8 – Crimes committed by gangs consisting of ethnic minorities have risen 13 percent in the Russian Federation this year over last, while crimes by foreign nationals overall have fallen by 39 percent over the same period, the Russian government’s Investigative Committee says.

            This paradox (sledcom.ru/news/item/2130215/ and nazaccent.ru/content/46034-v-rossii-vyroslo-chislo-prestuplenij-sovershennyh-etnicheskimi-gruppirovkami/) is easily explained: the number of migrants is down given that they are subject to more repression, while those who do organize in gangs increasingly arm themselves and commit crimes.

            And that pattern suggests that Russian siloviki are likely to employ ever more violent and repressive means to try to control, an approach that will drive the divide between immigrants and most Russians even deeper and make if more difficult for Moscow to attract and hold migrant workers.

            Because many ethnic Russians do not clearly distinguish between immigrants and some indigenous non-Russian groups, such a response will also likely deepen divides between Russians and the Moscow state, on the one hand, and indigenous non-Russians and their republics, on the other.