The Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) yesterday summoned Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Semyon Grigoryev of police beating of Tajik students in the Siberian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, the ambassador was brought to the attention of the concern of the Tajik side by the incoming information about mass detention of Tajik nationals in the Russian Federation under various pretexts.
“The need for a joint response to existing and emerging migration problems was noted. Besides, the importance of taking coordinated action in developing possible joint measures on migration issues was noted,” says a statement released by the Tajik Foreign Ministry.
The parties, in particular, discussed in detail the incident that occurred in dormitory # 3 of the Technical University in Komsomolsk-on Amur on the morning of May 19, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
“Over a hundred Tajik students studying at this university were subjected to interrogation and ill-treatment by Russian law enforcement agencies. Such incidents do not correspond to the spirit of the Tajik-Russian strategic partnership and alliance and may undermine the efforts of the parties to further expand collaboration in the field of education,” the statement notes.
Recall, Tajik students told Radio Liberty that police and security officers raided their dormitory on May 19, severely beating some 100 students from Tajikistan, leaving 15 students injured, some of whom need surgery.
Meanwhile, the rector of the Technical University has rejected reports about the beating of almost 100 Tajik students on campus by police on May 19. Eduard Dmitriyev said on May 23 that "a conflict between police and Tajik students" had occurred while immigration police held checks after a student from Tajikistan was detained on suspicion of financing terrorism.
