Russian ‘Migrant Guide’ Deemed Insulting in Tajikistan

Are brooms, paint brushes, trowels, and paint rollers the new national symbols of Central Asian countries?

A new ‘migrant worker’s guide’ to the city of St. Petersburg depicts foreign labor migrants as brooms, paint brushes, trowels, and paint rollers. The leaflet has provoked widespread anger in Tajikistan, with many internet users and officials describing the representation of migrant workers in the guide as ‘insulting’. Read >>

Russia Secures Pilots’ Release But Harms Relations With Tajikistan

On November 22, a court in Tajikistan released two foreign pilots, including a Russian citizen, whose imprisonment on questionable charges two weeks earlier had infuriated the authorities in Russia and prompted them to respond in a way that threatened to ruin Tajikistan’s economy. Moscow’s harsh reaction to the incident appears to have been motivated mainly by the ruling party’s calculations ahead of the elections. Although Russia’s punitive action that focused on Tajik migrant workers was mainly designed for domestic consumption, it angered a large part of Tajikistan’s population and the political elite.

BACKGROUND: The pilots – Vladimir Sadovnichy, a Russian citizen, and Alexei Rudenko, an Estonian citizen – were detained in March after landing two cargo planes at a Tajik airport without permission. Several months later, they were charged with smuggling, illegal border crossing, and violating international aviation regulations. On November 8, a Tajik court found the pilots guilty on all three charges and sentenced them to eight and a half years in prison. The pilots alleged that the charges brought against them had been trumped up by Tajik security agencies as a justification for confiscating the aircrafts.

Tajikistan Frees Jailed Pilots Under Pressure From Moscow

On November 22, a court in Tajikistan released two foreign pilots, including a Russian citizen, who two weeks earlier had been sentenced to lengthy terms in jail. The release of Vladimir Sadovnichy, a Russian citizen, and Alexei Rudenko, an Estonian citizen, has been prompted by an unusually strong backlash from Moscow that threatened to ruin Tajikistan’s economy.

Sadovnichy and Rudenko were flying their Antonov-72 cargo planes from Afghanistan to Russia on March 12 when Tajik air traffic controllers denied them permission to land for refueling at the Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tube) Airport in southern Tajikistan. The pilots landed their aircrafts anyway, claiming that they did not have enough fuel to return to Kabul. After the landing, the crews of the two planes were placed by State Committee for National Security (GKNB) forces in a hotel where they were held for about two months. In May, Tajik authorities formally arrested Sadovnichy and Rudenko, but released the rest of the crew. Following a trial that had been kept mostly low-profile, the two pilots were on November 8 found guilty of smuggling, violating international aviation regulations, and illegally crossing Tajikistan’s border. They were each sentenced to eight and a half years in prison and the planes were confiscated as “physical evidence”.

Tajikistan Seeks Alternative Destinations For Its Labor Migrants

Speaking to journalists on January 7, Tajikistan’s Migration Service chief Safiallo Devonaev said the government is strengthening efforts to diversify destinations for the country’s surplus labor. Already this year about 1,000 physicians and nurses from Tajikistan will get jobs in Saudi Arabia under an agreement reached in November 2009. They can soon be followed by engineers, drivers and construction workers. According to Mr. Devonaev, Tajik authorities are working to reach similar agreements with Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, Belarus and Ukraine. In the long term, the Migration Service chief said, European countries, Turkey and Canada might be willing to take Tajik workers.

Holmamad Nazarov, analyst at a government think tank, claims that Dushanbe’s efforts to find alternative destinations for the country’s labor migrants is motivated by the desire to break its dependence on Russia. Russia continues to be the by far most popular destination with 600,000 to about 1.5 million Tajik labor migrants, followed by Kazakhstan. Tajikistan is heavily dependent on remittances, which amount to seven times what the country obtains in foreign aid, and finance 70 percent of its trade deficit. In 2008, Tajikistan’s labor migrants sent home US$2.6 billion or around 49 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the World Bank. Despite the global financial and economic crisis, the figures for 2009 amounted to US$1.8 billion, according to the IMF. Analysts suggest that remittances have played a key role in keeping millions of Tajiks out of extreme poverty and in helping the authorities avoid social unrest.