Russia begins deporting Tajiks amid diplomatic row

AP via Google ^ | November 15, 2011 | OLGA TUTUBALINA

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DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — Russia began deporting Tajik migrants Tuesday, the first in a wave of expulsions in apparent retaliation for the jailing of a Russian pilot in the Central Asian nation, officials in Tajikistan said.

The spat threatens to imperil the livelihood of thousands of Tajik laborers and stir discontent in a country struggling to protect its border with Afghanistan. The former Soviet nation's economy relies heavily on the remittances provided by the many hundreds of thousands of Tajiks working in Russia.

Over the past year, Moscow has been attempting to strong-arm Tajikistan into permitting Russian border troops to resume patrols of the rugged 1,350-kilometer (840-mile) frontier with Afghanistan.

Tajik authorities have responded testily to such overtures, which they view as an attempt by the Kremlin to dilute their country's sovereignty. Russia, meanwhile, grumbles that Tajik troops are not up to stemming the huge flow of heroin streaming north from Afghanistan.

This latest tit-for-tat dispute will likely undermine efforts to deepen cooperation on enhancing regional security.

Tajikistan's migration service said 11 Tajiks were set to fly out from Moscow on Tuesday after authorities ruled they had violated migration rules. They were among about 300 Tajiks detained in recent days.

Vladimir Lobanov, acting head of a detention center in Moscow, confirmed that some of the detained Tajiks have been deported and preparations were being made to deport the others.

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