Aizura and her 10-year-old daughter arrived recently in Russia from a visit to Kyrgyzstan and planned to rejoin their family. They got as close as a Moscow airport. Then Russia's widening crackdown on Central Asian migrants, who face growing harassment, legal pressure, and violence caught up with them.
Aizura, who used a pseudonym for fear of retribution, and her daughter were held by airport authorities for around 12 hours as it became clear that the state's campaign has widened to include the children of migrant workers, many of whom are being barred from studying in Russian schools or even denied entry into the country.
Airport officials provided an official document dated September 6 from the Department of Migration Affairs in Moscow's Krasnoselsky district stating that the girl had violated unspecified immigration rules.
"They said, 'We won't let your child in,'" Aizura told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, noting her daughter had been attending school in Moscow since first grade. "My daughter is 10 years old. What law did she break?"
Aizura, whose husband and eldest daughter remain in Russia, said they were forced into a "room that was like a prison, forced to sit on iron chairs. The bunk beds were disgusting."
The two were informed by airport officials that the schoolgirl had been banned from entering Russia for five years.
"They put a lot of pressure on me and my daughter," added Aizura.
"After weighing everything, I decided to return [to Kyrgyzstan]," said Aizura, who had lived and worked in Moscow for 10 years. "I heard that now they are banning and deporting anyone they want."
For decades, Russia has been the main destination for millions of Central Asian workers, who have faced harassment and discrimination.
But attacks and discrimination against migrants intensified after the Islamic State-Khorasan extremist group attacked a concert hall outside Moscow in March 2024, killing nearly 150 people. Several Tajik citizens were arrested over their alleged involvement in the attack.
The massacre sparked an anti-migrant drive that saw tens of thousands of Central Asians deported or denied entry to Russia, while many others reported what they described as xenophobic attacks.
Last month, dozens of migrants from Tajikistan said they were held by Russian authorities at Moscow's Zhukovsky Airport for over a week. In footage shared with RFE/RL, dozens of men are seen locked inside a room cramped with prison-style iron bunk beds.
Authorities don't seem to have stopped there.
The children of Central Asian migrants are also now caught in the crosshairs.
A Tajik schoolgirl was recently expelled from her school in Moscow. The official reason was that the student's parents had moved back to Tajikistan, even though they still reside in the Russian capital.
"Her parents work there," Ahlia, a relative of the student, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service. "But the documents they presented said that their place of residence had changed. They expelled her from school, and we were forced to bring her [to Tajikistan]."
More than 3,700 schoolchildren who previously studied in Russian schools have been forced to return to Tajikistan, according to an official from the Tajik Education Ministry who spoke to RFE/RL's Tajik Service.
Authorities have imposed new tougher rules on admitting the children of migrants to Russian schools. They must now pass a rigorous language test and prove their legal status in Russia.
Aigul, who has lived in Moscow for a decade, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that her daughter is not going to school after failing the new language test. She can retake the test in three months.
"We don't know why they are doing this. In fact, there are many children who failed the exam. Many are worried," said Aigul.
Around 87 percent of migrant children who applied to study in Russian schools during this academic year were rejected, Russia’s Federal Monitoring Service for Education and Science, known as Rosobrnadzor, said in a new report released on September 11.
Rosobrnadzor said that less than 3,000 children -- or around 13 percent of applicants -- passed the mandatory Russian language test.
Russian officials said in August that there had been a significant drop in the number of migrant children enrolled in Russian schools for the current academic year.
Nursultan Karabaev, an immigration expert based in Kyrgyzstan, said the new rules and restrictions on the children of migrant workers are part of the wider crackdown on Central Asians.
"Russia is aiming to reduce the number of migrants, [especially] migrants who come with their families," he told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service. "I don't see any other goal."
