Tajiks Labour Migrants Confused About Status

Hundreds of thousands of Tajiks travel to Russia to work every year, and some get deported for not going through the proper immigration, residence and employment procedures.

When someone is physically deported it is fairly clear, but in other cases people only find out they are barred from re-entering Russia when they go to Dushanbe airport, or arrive at the other end.

Since 2012, when Russia began clamping down on immigrants’ work and resident status, Tajikistan’s migration agency has distributed information and run an online information service allowing people to check whether they can travel. That has saved some 12,000 people from travelling all the way to Russia only to be sent home again.

The online check system has closed, and travellers are now directed to the Russian migration service website where they can find out whether they are barred. Entry bans run out after five years.

Khurshed Durakhsh is an IWPR contributor in Tajikistan. 

This audio programme went out in Russian and Tajik on national radio stations in Tajikistan. It was produced under two IWPR projects: Empowering Media and Civil Society Activists to Support Democratic Reforms in Tajikistan, funded by the European Union; and the Human Rights Reporting, Confidence Building and Conflict Information Programme, funded by the Foreign Ministry of Norway.The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of IWPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of either the European Union or the Norwegian foreign ministry.