St. Petersburg courts have ruled to deport more than 400 migrants due to violations of migration legislation. This information was announced by the head of the unified press service of the city's courts, Daria Lebedeva.
From March 25 to 29, approximately 584 administrative offense cases under Article 18.8 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation (violations by foreign citizens of entry rules or stay regulations in Russia) were received by the district courts of the city.
Out of the 584 cases, 515 were considered by the courts. The court decisions led to 418 violators being fined and forcibly expelled from the country. Another 48 individuals were fined and required to leave Russia within five days after the ruling came into legal force, as stated by Lebedeva.
All cases that required it were reviewed with the participation of translators, ensuring the full observance of the violators' rights by the courts.
On March 29, the human rights project "First Department" reported that law enforcement agencies in St. Petersburg were conducting a large-scale operation called "Anti-Migrant" to identify and deport foreign citizens who do not have the right to stay in Russia. According to an attorney representing some foreign citizens, migrants are being deported en masse by plane from Pulkovo Airport.
Additionally, it was reported that the St. Petersburg police conducted a comprehensive inspection of vehicles on more than 30 highways leading to the city and checked over 1,500 foreigners. The inspection was described by the authorities as "total." The operation involved nearly 200 National Guard officers, over 250 employees from migration and patrol services, traffic police, and operational units, as well as K-9 units. The Ministry of Internal Affairs identified "several hundred" various administrative offenses during the inspection.
Following the terrorist attack at "Crocus City Hall," some politicians have proposed initiatives to tighten anti-migrant legislation. State Duma deputy from Crimea, Mikhail Sheremet (United Russia), suggested restricting entry into Russia during the special operation. He believes that foreigners "automatically become the target of interest for Western intelligence services."
Vice-Speaker of the State Duma from the "New People" party, Vladislav Davankov, proposed in his Telegram channel to deport migrants for "the slightest offense" and to introduce digital monitoring of them.
Ildar Gilmudtinov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Nationalities, emphasized the need to combat the masterminds of terrorist attacks rather than migrants. Alexander Safonov, the Vice-Rector of the Financial University, pointed out that if Russia were to reject the workforce provided by migrants, the damage to the country's economy would be "total."
