To-date, Tajikistan has signed agreements on regulation of recruitment of manpower from Tajikistan with a number of countries.
In 2004, Tajikistan and Russia signed a government-to-government agreement on labor activities and protection of rights of nationals of Tajikistan in Russia and nationals of Russia in in Tajikistan. On April 2019, the countries signed a government-to-government on organized recruitment of labor migrants in Tajikistan for seasonal work in Russia.
A government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Belarus on temporary employment of Tajik nationals in Belarus and Belarusian nationals in Tajikistan was signed on October 28, 2011.
A government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan on labor migration cooperation was signed on March 14, 2018.
Tajikistan also has an agreement with Kyrgyzstan on labor activities and social protection of labor migrants that was signed by the countries on May 6, 1998.
On February 3, 2019, Tajikistan and Qatar signed a government-to-government agreement on regulation of recruitment of manpower from Tajikistan.
A government to-government agreement on cooperation in the field of labor and employment was signed with Azerbaijan on June 20, 2016.
An official with the Ministry of labor Migration and Employment of the Population with Tajikistan says similar agreement were singed with Turkiye and India in September 2019.
Tajikistan also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on recruitment of manpower with China (August31, 2017).
Currently, 32 entities authorized to send manpower abroad operate in Tajikistan. However, they still work poorly. Over the first three months of this year, only 14 of them have managed to send 795 nationals of the country to the Russian Federation and provide them with jobs.
In the context of economic globalization, diversification of migration remains one of priorities in the regulation of migration processes.
According to a survey conducted by the Migration Service of the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Employment of the Population of Tajikistan quarterly, 344,393 Tajiks have traveled abroad over the first four months of this year seeking better employment opportunities.
Russia remains the top destination for Tajik labor migrants despite the war in Ukraine. Over the reporting period, Tajik nationals have traveled primarily to Russia – 96 percent.
Experts note that the deteriorating situation in Russia due to the war in Ukraine has not affected the number of Tajiks migrating, which is still growing.
The number of people obtaining Russian citizenship has reached a record high. The number of Tajiks obtaining Russian citizenship has reportedly increased 6.5-fold over the past seven years. In 2022, citizens of Tajikistan received a record number of Russian passports — 174,000. In 2021, the number was around 104,000. Under an agreement signed with Russia in 1997, Tajik nationals are allowed to hold dual citizenship.
According to experts, Tajiks choose Russian citizenship because they believe it gives them access to a better quality of life. First and foremost, it is access to work, for the sake of which Tajiks go to Russia even without citizenship.
In Russia, however, there are already calls to involve Central Asian migrants who have received Russian passports in the war on Ukraine. According to media reports, there are already facts of attracting hundreds of migrants from Central Asia to work in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, lately, news about the mass detention of Tajikistan citizens in the Russian Federation have appeared almost daily.
Approximately 100 Tajik labor migrants were detained by police in the town of Kotelniki in Moscow oblast in the night from May 23 to May 24.
Tajiks students studying at the Technical University in the Russia city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur told RFE/RL 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.
On May 24, Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan, Semyon Grigoryev, over this incident.
A video showing Russian police getting Tajik migrants out of the school stadium in Moscow’s Mozhaisk district was posted on social media on May 29. They have been charged with violation of the rules of stay, petty hooliganism and disobedience to police officers’ orders. Russian media reports say the migrants allegedly forced teenagers to leave the school stadium on Belovezhskaya Street so they could play soccer there themselves. Russian media reported that police had responded to calls from local residents.
On May 31, media reports said that dozens of Tajik labor migrants have been detained in Moscow again. More than 150 Tajik labor migrants were reportedly taken to police station in Moscow’s Mitino district on the morning of May 30. They were picked up in the middle of the night and taken by four buses to police station in Moscow’s Mitino district
The Tajik authorities state that they have developed and are implementing special national programs to reduce labor migration abroad. Their goal is to provide citizens with jobs inside the country and to train specialists that meet the requirements of today’s labor market.
