Racist incidents in Yakutia

Since the summer of 2007, in the city of Neryungri (Yakutia), a number of aggressive manifestations have been recorded against workers from China who came to build the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.

After more than 850 Chinese builders arrived in the city under an agreement between Transneft and the Chinese corporation CPP, leaflets appeared on the streets calling for the expulsion of the Chinese. Then (in July 2007) a criminal case was opened on the distribution of leaflets under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (inciting national hatred), the authors of the appeals were detained.

In August 2007, unidentified persons set fire to a wooden hotel occupied by Chinese construction workers. On September 3, two of them were severely beaten and robbed. On September 4, unknown persons attempted to set fire to the dormitory where workers from China live - the walls were doused with gasoline, but the fire was prevented.

The leaders of the CPP company filed a complaint with the Chinese Consulate in Khabarovsk, after which Nikolai Dyakonov, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Yakutia, arrived in the city to study the situation. At present, the local police have stepped up patrolling and guarding the residences of Chinese construction workers. A special commission has been set up to prevent "extremist" manifestations in the city.

It should be noted that the leadership of the Republic itself interprets these manifestations of aggression against foreign workers as nationalist, drawing parallels with the situation in Karelian Kondopoga last year . So the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Vyacheslav Shtyrov, returning on September 13 from a working trip to the city of Neryungri, announced the need to stop the attacks of extremists and nationalists in this city. The leadership of the Republic is waiting for the situation to be resolved on October 1, when foreign workers will start working directly on the highway in the taiga and, accordingly, will leave the city.

Sources

• Nikolaev V. Chinese builders will be sent to the taiga // Newspaper. 2007. 13 September.