DUSHANBE, June 11, Asia-Plus – A group of Afghan refugees living in Tajikistan have gathered in the building of the UNHCR local office in Dushanbe today morning, asking for support and protection.
The source at the UNHCR Dushanbe Office said that a detailed information will be given on completion of the gathering.
At the end of last week, Afghan refugees living in Dushanbe without appropriate registration were given ten days to leave the capital city for the places of registration.
On June 9, a group of Afghan female refugees applied to the UNHCR Dushanbe Office asking for ensuring observance of their rights.
In the meantime, Tajik MFA said that in accordance with Tajikistan’s laws on refugees and legal status of foreign citizens in Tajikistan, foreign citizens or persons having refugee status should live in places where they had been registered.
“However, the results of recent raids have shown that the majority of Afghan refugees registered in the regions are currently living and working in Dushanbe,” the source said, noting that the resolution requiring them to leave Dushanbe for the places of registration does not hurt their rights.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan.ru reported the Afghan refugees living in Tajikistan assess this move as unfriendly and fogged intention of Tajik authorities to throw Afghan refugees out of Dushanbe. According to the Afghan female refugees, the regions, where their families are registered, do no have schools and hospitals as well as jobs for them, Afghanistan.ru said.
Over 20 years, Afghans remain the biggest single refugee group in the world. More than 2 million of them remain in exile. Tajikistan has played host to several thousand Afghan refugees. At resent, the total number of Afghan refugees in Tajikistan, recognized as refugees by the Tajik Government in accordance with the 1951 Convention Relating to Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and the national refugee legislation, is around 2,000. they congregate in urban areas of the country, mostly in Dushanbe. with smaller number in Khujand.
