Russia on Saturday was preparing to expel around 300 Tajik migrants detained in recent days, reportedly in retaliation for the jailing of a Russian pilot by a court in Tajikistan. The Federal Migration Service (FMS) said almost 300 migrants from the impoverished Central Asian state were detained over the last several days for violations of Russian law and would now be deported.
The move comes after a court in Tajikistan this week jailed two pilots from Russia and Estonia for eight-and-a-half years on charges of smuggling contraband goods, a verdict that was angrily protested by Moscow. The Interfax news agency quoted a source at the FMS as saying the crackdown on illegal migrants would continue at the weekend. Its spokeswoman Zalina Kornilova said 297 Tajik migrants had already been detained. "The 297 citizens of Tajikistan, who according to the court's decision are going to be deported from the Russian Federation, are in temporary holding centres. Just technical questions need to be solved," she told Interfax.