As of April 10, Tajikistan has reached more than 80 percent of its spring conscription campaign target, Faridoun Mahmadalizoda, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, told Asia-Plus Friday (April 11) afternoon.
According to him, the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), Khatlon Province, Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan), Dushanbe and Kuhistoni Mastchoh district of Sughd province have already fulfilled their spring conscription campaign targets.
In the territorial cross section the percentage the target reached was: GBAO – 100 percent; Dushanbe – 100 percent; Khatlon Province – 100 percent; Districts Subordinate to the Center – 72 percent, and Sughd Province – 54 percent.
The spring conscription campaign is carried out from April 1 through May. The draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old, who are not members of the armed forces reserve.
The same decree provides for the retirement from active duty of soldiers and sergeants whose service under conscription is over.
The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.
Exact numbers on how many young men are conscripted are not made public. According to some sources within the Ministry of Defense, every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces.
Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.
Recall, amendments have been made to the country’s law on military service in early 2021. The amendments came into effect on February 4, 2021 and young men in Tajikistan who wish to forgo the military service may now do so by paying a fee to the government. A one-month basic reserve service is organized for those who did not perform conscript service for a fee. At the end of basic reserve service they receive military cards.
Besides, under the law on the universal military duty in new edition, graduates of universities having military department will also be drafted into the army for one year.
Only people who have done military service will be permitted to obtain employment with the government or join the army in a professional capacity.
Tajikistan’s armed forces consist of Ground Forces, Mobile Forces (paratroopers of the armed forces of Tajikistan), Air Force and Air Defense Force.
To fulfill conscription campaign, the Tajik authorities sometimes still use military recruitment raids. During two months in spring (April-May) and two months in autumn (October-November), Tajik men of serving age are routinely hauled off streets or taken from their homes and forced into cars by plainclothes law enforcement officers.
A ‘hunt’ for persons of draft age, more commonly known as ‘raid’, which is sometimes used to catch young people, is a violation of the law. The Tajik authorities do not admit the use of raids, but ordinary citizens and analysts have repeatedly expressed concern about the forced recruitment of young people, and other illegal methods used in recruiting campaigns.
