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Uzbek
Around 90 citizens of Uzbekistan spent two days at Sheremetyevo Airport—from the early morning of August 22 to the night of August 24. They had already entered Russian territory but were unable to cross the border. After spending two days on two floors of the terminal, they were deported back home. Experts suggest that this is just the beginning, and in the near future, we may see mass flights of migrants being sent back to their homeland, according to Russian media.
According to the accounts of the travelers themselves, they were left without food and proper rest the entire time. There was indeed nowhere to lie down comfortably in the holding area. Their passports were confiscated, and they had no idea what awaited them.
Sheremetyevo Airport confirmed that such an incident took place, but all questions regarding the detentions were redirected to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), as this falls exclusively within their jurisdiction.
“We occupied two floors of the airport with our belongings. Among us were women and children,” said one of the passengers, Ramizidin. He mentioned that he works legally in Moscow and has never had any problems with the law.
“I expect that we will continue to see similar tightening of migration policies. A plane full of deported migrant workers won’t be the last; this already happened in March after the tragedy at ‘Krokus’. In my opinion, this is the right thing to do. I have a suggestion to address this issue that many are discussing today. It involves the introduction of visas for CIS citizens. However, this is unfortunately not possible at the moment due to intergovernmental agreements, and we still have our own interests in these countries,” commented Kirill Kabanov, a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights in Russia.
He added that no one in Russia is deported without cause, so it is likely that these individuals had deliberately attempted to obtain work and residence permits illegally. When this came to light, they were sent home.
Earlier, the Agency for External Labor Migration of Uzbekistan warned Uzbek citizens traveling to Russia via airports about prolonged document checks. Officials also recommended that travelers check for entry bans on the official website of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs before their trip.
The text has been translated by AI. For more accurate information, please refer to the Russian version of the article.
