After the terrorist attack in Moscow – Putin calls for stricter migration laws

Vladimir Putin calls for a new migration strategy after the bloody terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow that killed at least 144 people.

Only people who “respect our traditions, language, culture and history” should be allowed to settle in the country, says the Russian president.

The terror attack, which also left 551 people injured, has shaken Russia and many voices have been raised in favor of improving the public security apparatus – but also of tightening immigration policies and laws on residence permits for migrants. This is because most of the suspected terrorists are Tajiks who have lived and worked in Russia.

So far, at least 12 people have been arrested for involvement in the attack claimed by the Islamic State terror group – although Russia has expressed suspicions that Ukraine was also involved in the terror attack.

According to Putin, the aim of the terrorist attack on the concert hall was to create “discord, xenophobia and Islamophobia in Russia” – and, according to Reuters, he also emphasised the need to change the migration system so that work permits cannot be issued to people with a lengthy criminal record.

– We need to deeply and radically update our approaches to migration policy,… The decisive principle should be that only those who respect our traditions, language, culture, and history can come to live and work in Russia.