KHUJAND, January 26, 2015, Asia-Plus – Twenty-two residents of Sughd province are currently studying at religious schools in Islamic countries, according to Abduhakim Sharipov, the head of the Sughd department on religious affairs.
“644 residents of Sughd had previously studied at religious schools in Islamic but 636 of them have been returned since August 2010,” Sharipov said, noting that they will take all necessary measures to return the remaining 22 Sughd residents from foreign religious schools.
“We are doing all in our power to place the youth who were returned in jobs and educational facilities,” the head of the Sughd department on religious affairs said, adding that 48 residents of Sughd are now studying at the Tajik Islamic University in Dushanbe.
Tajik authorities have expressed concern about young Tajiks receiving education at Islamic religious schools abroad.
We will recall that the head of the State Committee on Religious Affairs, Abdurahim Kholiqov, told reporters in Dushanbe on January 6 that at least 158 Tajiks are currently studying illegally at madrasahs outside Tajikistan.
Kholiqov said Tajiks studying at some madrasahs abroad can be easily radicalized and recruited into extremist or militant groups.
Tajik authorities launched a campaign to return young people from foreign religious schools in August 2010. Hundreds of Tajik students have been forced to quit their studies at religious schools abroad and returned home.
