Russia to tighten immigration laws in wake of deadly Moscow attack

Russia plans to implement changes aimed at stricter immigration laws following a terrorist attack in Moscow in March, which led to over 140 deaths. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed a bill to tighten immigration rules.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed a bill to tighten immigration rules, as informed by ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk. "Bloomberg" reported that the bill would require foreign workers to have a digital profile with biometric data. Additionally, foreigners would be allowed to stay in Russia without registering at an office for a maximum of 90 days per calendar year. They are allowed to stay for 90 days every six months.

According to the draft, officials might also establish a special government body to oversee migrant affairs, which would be under the president's supervision. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that no final decisions have been taken yet, as per "Bloomberg".

Entry to our country is currently too easy not only for those who wish to work here in good faith but also for individuals who mean harm. Russia should enforce deportation for any minor violation of the law - conveyed by Vladislav Davankov, vice-chairman of the lower chamber.

At the end of March, before a concert by the band Piknik, armed individuals entered the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of Moscow and started shooting at the densely packed crowd. An explosion in the building led to a fire.

At least 144 people were killed in the attack, and over 550 were injured. Russian authorities detained 11 individuals. The authorities noted that some of the suspected assailants had expired Russian immigration documents. The terrorist group Islamic State of Khorasan Province (IS-KP), an Afghan branch of the terrorist group IS, claimed responsibility for the incident.

After the attack, Russian special services acknowledged that they had received information from the United States regarding preparations for a terrorist attack, but the information was general - reported TASS following the attack. It has also come to light that Iran had warned Moscow about the attack.

A few days before this incident, Tehran shared with Moscow information on a potential major terrorist attack on Russian soil. The information was gathered during the interrogation of individuals arrested following attacks in Iran, as reported by a Reuters source.

In early January, an attack in the Iranian city of Kerman resulted in close to 100 deaths. On 19 January, Iran announced the arrest of members of IS-KP. Intelligence sources have indicated that IS-KP was behind both the January attack in Kerman and the March attack in Moscow - Reuters mentioned.

A second source indicated that the warning given to Moscow by Tehran was vague, lacking specific details on the timing and precise target of the attack. Russia was informed that members of IS-KP "were ordered to gear up for a significant operation in Russia (...) One of the terrorists arrested in Iran revealed that some members of the group had already headed to Russia" – reported that individual.

A third Reuters source, a top security official, stated that "the authorities in Tehran did their duty by alerting Moscow based on information obtained from captured terrorists".