Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported yesterday that more than 1,800 state workers have been mobilized in the southern province of Khatlon to go door-to-door to warn people about joining religious extremist groups.
During the informal talks — part of a wider campaign known simply as Door-To-Door — officials reportedly urge people to stay vigilant against online groups that seek to recruit young men for terrorist organizations under the guise of Islam, according to Khatlon residents.
According to RFE/RL, the government in Dushanbe is growing anxious about the rise of religious extremism after dozens of Tajik nationals were linked to terrorist attacks and deadly plots in Russia, Iran, the United States, and Europe this year.
"The information that we get from law enforcement agencies is alarming. The number of young people who joined religious extremist groups is very high in our province," Khatlon Governor Davlatali Said told reporters in August. He did not provide exact numbers.
The Door-To-Door teams have reportedly visited more than 620,000 households across the province so far to speak to young people and their parents, Mr. Said added.
The teams — which consist of government officials, local council members, teachers, and doctors — have taken special courses beforehand, he said.
A Khatlon resident told RFE/RL that officials were also asking people to remind their relatives who work in Russia to beware of potential recruiters to terrorist organizations.
Tajik officials and analysts cite youthful naivety, poverty and lack of education as the main causes of radicalization.
Tajik migrants traveling to Russia are much susceptible to radicalization. More that 85 percent of Tajik youth reportedly join extremist groups through recruitment videos and social media while traveling to the Russian Federation seeking better employment opportunities, says an article by teachers of the Tajik Interior Ministry Academy on ways of radicalization of Tajik youth. Shohrukh Ahyorzoda and Hayot Safarzoda, two lecturers at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, wrote in an article published on August 31 in the "Youth Council" group on the Academy's Facebook page that over 85% of Tajik citizens in conflict zones had traveled to "Islamic countries" from Russia. They expressed concern about the influence of Salafism-Wahhabism ideology among migrants, which they described as a "serious threat to Tajikistan's national security."
Authorities claim that a majority of Tajik nationals who have joined extremist groups like Islamic State (IS) and its affiliates have been radicalized in Russia. The authors of the article warned that the religious extremist ideology is on the rise among migrants and poses a "serious threat to national security." They warned against "Internet imams" who use social media to reach out to migrant workers.
