Russian diplomat, Tajik ambassador meet over Moscow protest

MOSCOW – A Russian deputy foreign minister and Tajikistan’s ambassador have met to discuss the unrest in Moscow in which about 90 Tajiks were detained.

On Wednesday hundreds of Tajiks protested outside a Moscow shopping centre where security guards had severely beaten a Tajik worker. Police said 90 people were detained.

Tajiks and migrants from other predominantly Muslim ex-Soviet republics flock to Russia for work, typically in low-paying jobs or manual work. Many Slavic Russians look down on the Central Asians and ethnic tensions are often high.

On Friday, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met Tajik Ambassador Imomuddin Sattorov and “gave special attention to the incident occurring at the shopping centre,” a ministry statement said.