Kyrgyzstan has advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to Russia in the face of rising scrutiny of Central Asians in the country following the deadly Crocus City Hall attack near Moscow in late March, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported.
The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry issued the travel advisory on May 2, warning Kyrgyz citizens of intensified checks and controls at borders by Russian authorities.
The advisory comes as human rights watchdogs report rising levels of xenophobia against Central Asians in Russia following the terrorist attack on the concert venue, which left 144 people dead and hundreds more injured. Eleven Tajik men and a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack. Russian investigators say the assault — Russia’s worst terrorist attack in two decades — was carried out by four men, all Tajik nationals. The other detainees are being held for aiding and abetting the attackers.
An offshoot of the Islamic State extremist group, the Islamic State-Khorasan group active in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. Tajikistan has also detained nine people suspected of having links to the attack.
