Uzbek Identity Crisis in Tajikistan

Uzbek residents of a pocket of northern Tajikistan complain they are being told either to change citizenship or leave the country.



The map of the area they live in looks so much like a jigsaw puzzle that anyone could be confused about where they live.



More than 1,000 residents of the Spitamen and Ghonchi districts of Tajikistan have been told they must decide whether they want to be Tajik or Uzbek nationals, and that if they choose the latter, they may have to leave.



Ethnic Uzbeks and Tajiks live on both sides of the border so this is not so much about ethnicity as passports. These people are mainly Uzbeks who ended up living in Tajikistan following an exchange of territory between the two republics more than half a century ago. Tajikistan was awarded these lands in exchange for an area that was flooded when a new hydroelectric power station was built in the 1940s.



At the time, it did not really matter - everyone was a citizen of the Soviet Union and borders between the different republics were merely administrative.



After both states became independent in 1991, these communities continued to be treated as if they were part of Uzbekistan. Many acquired the new Uzbekistan passports, worked for the public sector there, retired people were paid Uzbek rather than Tajik state pensions, and they had a secondary school funded by Tashkent. The Uzbek currency remains in common use here.



The situation is complicated by the fact that this stretch of border has not been demarcated on the ground, so it is not clear where exactly it runs.



These days, which passport you hold does matter. The two countries have had a sometimes difficult relationship since independence, and require each other’s citizens to obtain visas.



Residents say the authorities in Tajikistan told them they must make a definitive choice – either to become Tajikistan nationals or leave.



One local official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the problem came under the spotlight during the run-up to the Uzbek presidential election held December.



He said Tashkent went ahead and opened a polling station for Uzbek nationals in Spitamen district without submitting a formal request to do so.



“The Uzbeks ignored the fact this was not their territory and did not make an official request to open a polling station, even though they were supposed to do this,” he said. “That indicates that they regard this territory as theirs and they behave accordingly.”



The Tajik authorities responded by banning the use of the polling station, although they allowed people to cross freely into Uzbekistan to vote there.



Now that the problem was no longer dormant, the provincial authorities for Soghd region, which includes the areas in question, decided to take action. Deputy governor Vahob Nabiev visited local communities in February and urged people to make up their minds about which citizenship they want.



Ilhom Jamolion, who heads the Soghd administration’s press office, said the suggestion had been phrased in approptiate terms, and represented a genuine bid to resolve the anomaly between residence and citizenship.



It could not be normal to have a situation where Uzbek nationals had been living in Tajikistan for the last decade and a half, he said.



“We simply explained to people that they’re free to choose. If they choose Tajik citizenship, they can remain living here. But if they want to retain Uzbek citizenship, they should address themselves to officials in Uzbekistan, and it will be up to them [officials] to think of somewhere for these people to live,” said Jamolion.



The head of Spitamen district, Ilkhom Saidov, told IWPR the Tajik authorities were acting legally because the land was theirs.



“We have never forced anybody to acquire our citizenship; we have suggested that they decide what citizenship they would like to have, since they are living on our territory,” he said.



He insisted that after the deputy governor met residents, they agreed there was a problem and promised to make a decision.



Villagers interviewed by IWPR said that in deciding which way to jump, they were really weighing up the relative economic risks, rather thinking along political lines. Most people interviewed by IWPR feared losing their Uzbek wages and pensions, and other benefits such as natural gas and electricity, which they get when others in Tajikistan go short, especially in winter.



Rahmon Hojakeldiev, the head of a neighbourhood council in the Abdurahmoni Jomi community noted that Uzbek-national pensioners living there got about 120,000 Uzbek soms (about 100 US dollars) a month, while Tajik passport-holders could expect the national average of about one tenth of that amount.



Yet Hojakeldiev insisted he and many others there were not planning to take out Tajik citizenship.



He said officials in Uzbekistan had been telling local people not to worry and that everything would be sorted out when border demarcation was completed.



“They told us that as soon as the authorities decide on the border, we can stay if we want to or we can become Uzbek citizens. They told us they’d get everybody to Uzbekistan and wouldn’t leave anybody behind,” he said.



Yusup Hapkulov, who lives in the same neighbourhood as Hojakeldiev, is one of the minority who hold Tajik citizenship here. But he too is concerned that his fellow villagers are being forced into a situation where they must either accept Tajik nationality or be forced from their homes.



“We have a good life – they [officials] shouldn’t disturb us,” he said.



Jura Yusufi, deputy chief editor of the Varorud newspaper, believes the Soghd regional government made the right decision.



“I think the Tajik side is right. Citizens of another country who live in a given country permanently should adopt its citizenship or leave. This is in line with international rules,” said Yusufi.



Other observers, however, argue that regional governments should take a more nuanced approach to the situation facing communities divided by recently-created borders, who wish to maintain family ties and trading links



Analyst Ismoili Sugdi said the problem facing the Uzbek citizens in Tajikistan is ultimately a product of the longstanding tensions in relations between Tashkent and Dushanbe, which means they have been unable to agree on border issues.



“I think only official Dushanbe and Tashkent can solve this issue, so it is high time for them to sit down at the negotiating table,” said Sugdi.



He argues that people living in border areas could be given the option of having dual citizenship.



Whatever the solution, Sugdi said things cannot be just allowed to carry on as they are.



“The current situation is laying the basis for inter-state hatred. Only a certain group of people benefits, while he ordinary people as a whole suffer,” he said.