KHUJAND, May 12, Asia-Plus — Six of thirty-one Tajik school students detained by Uzbek special services on April 27 have not yet been released.
A reliable source at the Sughd law enforcement agencies told Asia-Plus on Monday that six Tajik 11th grade students – Bobour Alimatov, Dilshod Abdurahmonov, Ilhom Umronov, Shonazar Alimov, Ulughbek Kholdorov and Bakhtiyor Turdimatov – are still being held at one of detention facilities in Uzbekistan.
According to him, 31 school students from the Tajik northern town of Adrasmon (the town is located in the Asht district but subordinate to the city of Qairoqqum) were gathering rhubarbs in the border area on April 27 and inadvertently crossed over into Uzbekistan.
“The school students were detained by Uzbek border guards and taken to the Oybek Crossing,” said the source, “After a short questioning 25 of them were released while the reaming six school students were taken to the detention facility.”
He further added that so far boundaries between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have not been delineated and there are no any special engineering and technical installations on the border, which would demarcate the border. In other words, Tajik civilians living along the country’s mountainous, rural border, could never be sure whether they were in Tajik territory or had inadvertently crossed over into Uzbekistan.
