Afghans in Tajikistan
Encyclopedia
The population of Afghans in Tajikistan consists largely of refugees from the various wars which have plagued Afghanistan. They form the vast majority of all refugees in Tajikistan; the other refugees in the country include a few Uyghurs and Iraqis.

Migration history

UNHCR statistics on Afghan refugees in Tajikistan
Year Number
1994 695
1995 620
1996 1,161
1997 2,164
1998 3,622
1999 4,531
2000 15,354
2001 15,336
2002 3,427
Includes refugees on Panj River
Panj River
The Panj River , also known as Pyandzh River or Piandj River , is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river is 1,125 km long and forms a considerable part of the Afghanistan - Tajikistan border....

 islands


Tajikistan first passed a law on refugees in 1994, bringing them into partial compliance with the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is an international convention that defines who is a refugee, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. The Convention also sets out which people do not...

 and the 1967 Protocol
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
The Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees entered into force on October 4, 1967. Where the United Nations 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees had restricted refugee status to those whose circumstances had come about "as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951", as...

 which amended it. However, during the 1990s, few Afghan refugees chose Tajikistan as their destination; most were people associated with Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai , originally merely Najibullah, was the fourth and last President of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is also considered the second President of the Republic of Afghanistan.-Early years:Najibullah was born in August 1947 to the Ahmadzai...

's fallen Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...

 and Republic of Afghanistan
Republic of Afghanistan
Republic of Afghanistan was the official state government of Mohammed Daoud Khan from 1973 to 1978. Daoud Khan became Afghanistan's first President in 1973 after he deposed Mohammad Zahir Shah in a non-violent coup...

 administrations. Aside from political motivations, droughts were another major driver of migration. By May 2001, the Committee of Afghan Refugees claimed there were 4,000 refugees in Dushanbe alone, while the Tajik government put the figure at three to four times that number. These early refugees were primarily ethnic Uzbeks and Tajiks from northern Afghanistan.

With the onset of the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan in 2001, the refugee outflow intensified. However, Tajikistan closed their southern border, leaving many refugees trapped on islands in the Panj River
Panj River
The Panj River , also known as Pyandzh River or Piandj River , is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river is 1,125 km long and forms a considerable part of the Afghanistan - Tajikistan border....

 which forms the border between the two countries. Tajikistan was the last country bordering Afghanistan to officially close their borders to people without visas, following similar moves by Iran and Pakistan which had both already admitted in excess of one million refugees. The Tajik government cited their own chaotic internal situation caused by the 1992-1997 civil war and lack of funds to provide for refugees as justifications. Tajikistan's richer fellow ex-Soviet Central Asian countries Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan also closed their borders to Afghan refugees. By early 2002, 14,000 still remained in Tajikistan. The whole group were repatriated to Afghanistan proper later that year.

As of 2006, estimates of the number who remained in Afghanistan ranged from 1,000 to 20,000. From January 2008 to December 2009, the UNHCR estimates that an additional 3,600 Afghan refugees arrived in Tajikistan, fleeing violence and lawlessness resulting from the Taliban advance into northern Afghanistan's Kunduz Province. Among the refugees are an increasing number of educated English-speakers who fear persecution for their ties to Western non-governmental organisations in Afghanistan; Pakistan has become a less-popular destination for them due to the increasing political instability there as well. There has also been a shift in the geographical and ethnic origins of refugees, with an increasing number of people from central and southern Afghan cities such as Helmand, Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

, and Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

. However, ethnic Tajiks still make up a large proportion—an estimated 70%— of the latest wave of refugees. The UNCHR expects that another seven to eight thousand Afghans may seek refuge in Tajikistan in 2010.

Afghan refugees in Tajikistan generally hope to be resettled in economically developed countries, or to return home, rather than remain in Tajikistan. By 2005, the UNHCR had resettled 720 such refugees in the United States and Canada, with plans to resettle a total of 1,500.

Residency rights

In July 2000, the mayor of Dushanbe issued an order that all refugees be moved out of the capital to rural areas, reflecting concerns by Tajik authorities that the refugees were engaged in drug smuggling and illegal business in the capital. The police began carrying out the order in May 2001 despite protests from the UNHCR that this violated the refugee's rights to free movement; however, implementation was slowed by the fact that few rural areas were prepared to resettle the refugees either. Eventually, the implementation of the order was halted. However, , refugees who arrived after 2000 were still officially prohibited from residing in 15 cities, including Dushanbe and Khujand. Again in mid-2007, it was reported that Afghan refugees in Dushanbe were being detained by Tajik policemen and returned to the districts in which they were registered. Refugees protested that no work was available in rural districts and they had to go to Dushanbe to earn money to survive. Tajik authorities explained the detentions and expulsions as part of a wider ongoing operation which also applied to Tajik citizens, not just refugees. Refugees generally work as traders in open-air markets.

In 2008, Tajikistan's government granted citizenship to roughly 1,000 Afghans who had resided in the country for two decades, as part of a deal with the United Nations.

Education

Tajikistan's only school aimed specifically at Afghan refugees is located in Dushanbe. Many refugees face difficulties due to their inability to read Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 or Tajik
Tajik language
Tajik, Tajik Persian, or Tajiki, is a variety of modern Persian spoken in Central Asia. Historically Tajiks called their language zabani farsī , meaning Persian language in English; the term zabani tajikī, or Tajik language, was introduced in the 20th century by the Soviets...

, both of which are written using the Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...

, in contrast to the various languages of Afghanistan
Languages of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is home to more than 40 languages, with around 200 different dialects. The two official languages of Afghanistan are Persian Dari and Pashto, also known as Pakhto or Afghani. Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family...

 that they speak, which are typically written using the Perso-Arabic script
Perso-Arabic script
The Persian or Perso-Arabic alphabet is a writing system based on the Arabic script. Originally used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic alphabet was adapted to the Persian language, adding four letters: , , , and . Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add other letters...

. However, Tajik and Dari, both being forms of Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

, are mutually intelligible
Mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort...

 in their spoken form, and the UNHCR conducts classes to teach the Russian language to refugee children.

Politics

Afghans in Tajikistan were initially allocated two seats in Afghanistan's Loya Jirga in 2002. Out of the 13 candidates who first stood for election, the two chosen as representatives were Zohiri Hotam and Simo Nohon. The Declaration of the Essential Rights of Afghan Women was drafted by Afghan exiles in Dushanbe and unveiled there in 2003. However, Afghans living in Tajikistan were not able to vote in the 2009 Afghan presidential election
Afghan presidential election, 2009
The 2009 presidential election in Afghanistan was characterized by lack of security, low voter turnout and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud....

, because the government lacked funds to set up a polling station there.

Crime

There are roughly 260 Afghans serving prison sentences in Tajikistan , primarily for illegal entry
Illegal entry
Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like...

 or drug trafficking
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...

. A few are also involved in the smuggling of ferula
Ferula
Ferula is a genus of about 170 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia, mostly growing in arid climates. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 1–4 m tall, with stout, hollow, somewhat succulent stems...

, a plant with medicinal and culinary uses, whose export has been banned since September 2008; it can fetch prices of as high as US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

50 per kilogram in Afghanistan. An agreement signed between Afghanistan and Tajikistan in 2008 on bilateral prisoner exchange has not yet been implemented.

External links

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