The Parliament of Tajikistan has approved an important readmission agreement with Russia on the obligation of Tajikistan to take back migrants in case they violate Russian laws, Radio Ozodi writes.
On June 26, the government submitted the readmission agreement and the procedure for its implementation to Parliament for ratification, and the people's deputies, apparently, approved it before going on summer vacation on June 30.
In a government decree, a copy of which was made available to Radio Ozodi on August 12, deputies are recommended to approve the agreement signed by Russia in 2021 and Tajikistan in February 2022.
The document primarily concerns the fate of hundreds of thousands of Tajik migrants who live and work in Russia.
Readmission is the consent of the state to receive back to its territory its citizens (as well as, in some cases, foreigners who previously were or lived in this state) who are forced to be deported from another state, in particular from Russia.
Tajik authorities stated that the terms of this agreement do not meet the interests of Tajikistan either from a financial point of view or from a legal point of view. If the agreement is signed, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan undertakes to bear the costs of deporting thousands of Tajik migrants expelled from Russia for violating the rules of stay in this country.
In the initial draft of the Readmission Agreement with Tajikistan, which was proposed by Russia to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan in 2016, it was assumed that the costs of expelling migrants from the country should be paid either by the migrants themselves or by third parties.
Currently, if a court orders the deportation of a Tajik migrant, he must pay for a plane or train ticket on his own, and if he does not have such an opportunity, then either his friends lend him money or users announce a fee to send him home.
At the moment, it is unknown who will bear the costs of deporting illegal migrants.
