Voronina V.S., Kuznetsov I.M. Attitudes of Moscow Citizens Towards Migrants After the Terrorist Attack in Crocus City Hall

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Abstract

The article analyzes the attitudes of Moscow citizens towards migrants in theperiod from March to October 2024, before and after the terrorist attack in CrocusCity Hall. Based on the materials of three surveys conducted at the initiative of thePublic Council under the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairsof Russia for the city of Moscow, it is shown that over the entire observation period, the attitudes of Moscow citizens remained predominantly negative. In June and October, there was a significant increase in negative attitudes against the backdrop of the intensification of anti-migrant information discourses, but how long this effect will last will be shown by future measurements. The majority of Moscow citizens throughout the observation period consistently assessed their attitude towards migration as more negative than positive. Against the backdrop of the anti-migrant information campaign, a significant increase in sharply negative assessments was recorded. Among the negative consequences of the presence of migrants, Moscow citizens in most cases consistently name the increase in crime and illegal activities of migrants. The most obvious negative consequence of the anti-migrant information campaign can be considered a significant increase in the already high indicator of Moscow citizens concern about the migration situation by October 2024. In turn, this indicator is significantly interconnected with all other variables characterizing the attitude of Muscovites towards migrants. A conditionally positive effect of the information campaign in question was that respondents in both June and October significantly less often (according to their estimates) became participants in or witnesses to conflicts between representatives of the host community and migrants. Among the socio-demographic variables, attitudes towards migrants are associated with a variable reflecting whether the respondent is a permanent resident of Moscow or lives outside he city. Permanent residence in the capital (since birth, more or less 10 years) increases the likelihood of having a rather negative attitude towards migrants, while respondents who live outside the city are more likely to have a sharply negative attitude. Attitudes towards migrants also differ depending on the type of occupation: those who work as entrepreneurs, work in a private or public organization more often have rather negative attitudes towards migrants, while pensioners and the self-employed have sharply negative ones.