“There are no serious problems between our countries,” Dushanbe assures, and in regional organizations, the Tajiks are the first to support the Russians’ arguments. But meanwhile disappointment is growing in the relations of the Russian authorities towards emigrants, who have suffered outrages and violent forms of discrimination since the attack on the Krokus town hall.
Dushanbe () – The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirodžiddin Mukhriddin, spoke on the first channel of Russian television to ensure that “there are no serious problems between our countries, the personal relations between the heads of state Emomali Rakhmon and Vladimir Putin “They are more than friendly, you can say fraternal, and that will be the case in the future as well.”
The diplomat had been asked to comment on the Tajik Football Federation’s refusal to play a friendly match with the Russian team. The intention was to hold it in November, when the Russians had already made other commitments, so it was postponed to another date, “but the Russian side did not raise any other objections,” Mukhriddin said.
In fact, tensions between Moscow and Dushanbe seem quite high in recent weeks, with several statements from senior Tajik officials expressing their disappointment in the relations of the Russian authorities with Tajik emigrants. In particular, at the intergovernmental commission of the two countries, which met on October 4 in Tajikistan, the issue was explicitly raised by Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda.
Mukhriddin himself had spoken about violations of the rights of Tajik citizens at the meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, held on October 7 in Moscow, without naming any particular country, but stating that migration issues “they require a global and exhaustive approach, which takes into account equally the interests of the different parties involved, the host countries, the foreign citizens themselves and the local population.”
The guarantor of human rights in Tajikistan, Umed Bobozoda, often criticized for his lack of reaction to the problems raised by the population, wrote a letter on October 10 to his Russian counterpart, Tatiana Moskalkova, to express his concern about the lack of respect for the rights of Tajik emigrants in Russia. He emphasized the behavior of members of the security forces in Russia, who, in his opinion, “take illegal and unacceptable measures” against labor migrants, abusing them in various ways and even using violent methods.
Despite everything, Tajikistan and Russia reiterate on every occasion that they consider themselves “key strategic partners.” In various regional organizations, Tajiks are the first to support the Russian side, and the largest and most important Russian military base outside its borders is located in Tajikistan.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Tajik citizens come to seek their fortune in Russia, but in the last year the number of arrests and unfounded checks of their conditions in Moscow has increased considerably, especially after the March attack on the Krokus town hall, where several Tajiks, considered the sole perpetrators of the terrorist act, were arrested and accused of being terrorists. Following this incident, blockades of thousands of Tajik citizens were initiated at Russian airports or borders, and many were denied entry to the territory of the Russian Federation from anywhere, with many being forcibly repatriated.
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