Capital of Russia’s Dagestan faces garbage collapse due to crackdown on migrant workers

Following a law enforcement raid against illegal immigrants, employees of the Makhachkala mayor's office were compelled to clean up the streets of the Dagestani capital themselves. The police raid resulted in the detention of several workers from the utility service provider Makhachkala-1, meaning there was no one left to clean up garbage in the city, Russian state-owned news agency R IA Novosti reports .

Russia’s law enforcement agencies have taken a harder line towards immigrants, Central Asian migrant workers in particular, after four Tajik nationals were arrested as prime suspects in the case of the Crocus City Hall attack, the deadliest act of terror in Russia’s recent history — with a death toll of 144 people.

Meanwhile, Makhachkala’s city administration cites “technical difficulties” as the cause of the problem.

«Over the past few days, we have seen a deterioration in the city's sanitary condition. Makhachkala-1, the regional operator for solid municipal waste management, has had difficulties in cleaning up the sweepings and container sites and removal of solid waste for technical reasons,” the city administration wrote in its official Telegram channel.

To fix the problem, the employees of the Makhachkala city administration and subordinate bodies contributed to cleaning and garbage removal on Monday, the Makhachkala Mayor's Office reports .

In October 2023, RBC Kavkaz reported, citing Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, that the unemployment rate in Dagestan was among the top three highest in the country.