Tajikistan will be unable to take in many Afghan refugees, as no international organization has assisted the country in building relevant infrastructure in the past two decades, Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda said on Thursday
DUSHANBE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2021) Tajikistan will be unable to take in many Afghan refugees, as no international organization has assisted the country in building relevant infrastructure in the past two decades, Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda said on Thursday.
"Over the past 20 years no international organization has helped Tajikistan to create infrastructure to accommodate potential Afghan refugees, that is why under current conditions Tajikistan will not be able to receive a mass influx of refugees," Rahimzoda said at a meeting with Mulugeta Zewdie, the UNHCR representative in Tajikistan.
Tajikistan, the minister continued, has received over 15,000 Afghan refugees over the past 15 years. Following the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) takeover of Kabul, some 5,000 Afghan troops crossed the border into Tajikistan. After a week of stay, they returned home.
"As of today, some 80 Afghan families willing to cross the border have gathered at the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, but the growing instability in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover increases chances of terrorists, weapons, ammunition and drugs flowing to Tajikistan," Rahimzoda added.
The Tajik authorities check the identity of every Afghan national crossing the border, to make sure they have no relation to terrorism. Refugees are also subject to PCR tests.
The Tajik government has allocated 70 hectares (172 acres) in Jaihun, Shahritus, Parkhar, Shokhin districts and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region to host potential Afghan refugees.
International organizations do not respond to the Tajik government's requests for assistance in infrastructure construction, the minister said, adding that the UNHCR could offer Dushanbe urgent aid in renovating a refugee center in the Jaihun district.
