MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) – About 60 people were detained late Friday following a fight in the Russian capital apparently linked to the actions of an informal group campaigning against illegal immigrants, according to police.
The brawl broke out shortly after 8:00 p.m. when members of the Moscow Shield organization “checked the immigration status of citizens of the near abroad” at an address in northwest Moscow, a police spokesman said Saturday. About 60 people were subsequently arrested, including 25 activists from Moscow Shield, police said.
Like Russia as a whole, Moscow is heavily dependent on migrant laborers, mainly from Central Asia, but large sections of society are opposed to increased levels of immigration.
Moscow Shield, which appears to carry out searches for illegal immigrants and then reports any violations they discover to the authorities, called for its supporters to gather Friday evening on its page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte. The description of the planned event read: “A big raid! Bring your friends! We can’t let any of the illegals get away!”
Immigration has become a focal point of the upcoming Moscow mayoral elections, with candidates calling for a tougher line on illegal immigration and on migrant workers who do not assimilate into Russian culture. Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who is expected to win the September elections, said earlier this month that the overwhelming majority of crimes in the capital were committed by “visitors.”
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