The Crocus City Hall Terror Attack and Its Repercussions for Central Asians and Central Asia

On April 3rd, the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University and Oxus Society hosted a webinar on recent events in Moscow.

While little evidence has yet been presented for who committed the March 22 terror attack outside Moscow and why, it will clearly have serious repercussions for Central Asian migrants in Russia and for Russia-Central Asia relations. The arrest of four Tajik men has triggered a wave of harassment and renewed media commentary on Central Asia and its people as a source of danger. The suspected ISKP connection, which fits a pattern of recent attacks and arrests, brings attention back to the problem of armed Islamist groups and insurgencies from Central Asia and the Caucasus and Russia’s role as one of their primary targets. This panel will consider various implications of the terror attack for Central Asians and Central Asia, focusing on the issues of migration, counter-terrorism, and transnational repression.

Moderator

Nargis Kassenova, Senior Fellow; Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center, Harvard University

Speakers

Edward Lemon, President, The Oxus Society

Noah Tucker, Senior Research Consultant, Oxus Society; Program Associate, Central Asia Program, George Washington University

Yan Matusevich, Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural Anthropology, Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)

Malika Bahovadinova, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Amsterdam