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Surveillance, harassment and bribes: everyday life for migrants in Russia

Last year, President Vladimir Putin signed a 2025 policy to limit migrants' family presence in Russia, affecting 6.5 million Central Asian labour migrants who must report daily via the state-run Amina app.
Officials frame the measures as needed to "reduce the burden on the social and healthcare services," while rights groups link the crackdown to anti-immigrant narratives after the March 2024 concert hall massacre that killed 149 people and amid Russian inflation and tax increases.
Daily reports from migrants reveal police demand bribes up to $300, ultra-tough tests blocked 87 percent of migrant children in 2025, and xenophobic violence includes attacks on Alym's son and a 10-year-old Tajik boy.
Anti-Migrant sentiment is translating into political support, boosting the LDPR, ultra-nationalist party allied with the Kremlin, while migrants report returning as `Many of my compatriots have already returned, because their children weren't admitted to school`.
Anna Orlova, Russian language teacher at the Migratory Children project, criticised both the tests and policy, while Alym's daughter will soon take the test and four alleged assailants from Tajikistan are on trial.

Insights by Ground AI