Tajikistan

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

8,177

2023

Asylum Applications

1,056

2023

International Migrants

276,031

2020

Population

10,100,000

2023

Overview

Tajikistan; Tajikistan does not appear to have dedicated immigration detention facilities, but foreign nationals can potentially be held in criminal custody facilities while awaiting deportation. There is limited publicly available information on Tajikistan's treatment of migrants or asylum seekers in immigration enforcement procedures.

Types of facilities used for migration-related detention
Administrative Ad Hoc Criminal Unknown

Tajikistan: Covid-19 and Detention

In recent weeks, Tajik authorities have been arbitrarily detaining Afghan refugees and asylum seekers and forcibly returning them across the border into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. UNHCR reports that since 2021 there have been numerous cases of Afghan refugees being detained and deported in the country. Most recently, on 23 August 2022, it documented the arrest of […]

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Radio Ozodi, “

Tajikistan: Covid-19 and Detention

Although Tajik authorities closed the country’s borders to travellers from more than 30 countries in early March, the government initially denied the existence of the virus–even allowing mass public events to be held. In April however, following the announcement that the WHO would send a team to investigate the country’s virus-free status, authorities confirmed the […]

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C. Putz, “Zero to 15: Tajikistan Finally Confirms First Cases of COVID-19,” The Diplomat, 30 April 2020, https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/zero-to-15-tajikistan-finally-confirms-first-cases-of-covid-19/
Last updated: July 2024

DETENTION STATISTICS

Migration Detainee Entries
Not Available
2019

DETAINEE DATA

Total Number of Children Placed in Immigration Detention (Year)
0
2017

DETENTION CAPACITY

ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA

PRISON DATA

Criminal Prison Population (Year)
9,317
2010
7,350
2008
10,804
2006
10,000
2003
11,000
2001
6,000
1996
4,203
1993
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
4.9
2008
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
121
2010
102
2008
157
2006
152
2003
175
2001
102
1996
74
1993

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
10,100,000
2023
9,500,000
2020
8,482,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
276,031
2020
274,071
2019
275,100
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
2.89
2020
3.2
2015
Refugees (Year)
8,177
2023
10,724
2021
5,578
2020
3,788
2019
2,657
2018
2,525
2017
2,719
2016
1,969
2015
1,782
2015
2,026
2014
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
0.31
2016
0.24
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
1,056
2023
3,235
2019
273
2016
2,219
2014
Refugee Recognition Rate (Year)
43.8
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
4,144
2023
4,616
2018
10,500
2017
17,002
2016
10,051
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
1,114
2014
Remittances to the Country (in USD)
3,835
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
353.3
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
129 (Medium)
2015

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2024
Yes
2020
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
2024
Yes
2014
Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017

GROUNDS FOR DETENTION

LENGTH OF DETENTION

DETENTION INSTITUTIONS

PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS

COSTS & OUTSOURCING

COVID-19 DATA

TRANSPARENCY

MONITORING

Types of Authorised Detention Monitoring Institutions
The Human Rights Ombudsman (National Human Rights Institution (or Ombudsperson) (NHRI))
2009

NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING BODIES

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISMS (OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE)

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOs)

GOVERNMENTAL MONITORING BODIES

INTERNATIONAL DETENTION MONITORING

INTERNATIONAL TREATIES & TREATY BODIES

International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1995
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1999
2017
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1996
2017
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1995
2017
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2002
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2002
2017
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1993
2017
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2002
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1993
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1993
2017
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1999
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 11/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2014
2014
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 1999
1999
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
1/7
2017
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 22. Reiterating its previous recommendations 6 and recalling its general recommendation No. 22 (1996) on refugees and displaced persons in the context of article 5 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party repeal government resolutions No. 325 and No. 328 to ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers can enjoy the rights to freedom of movement and residence on an equal footing with other non-nationals in the State party and the rights to work, health, education and other basic rights under article 5 of the Convention. (b) Amendments to article 499 (3) of the Code of Administrative Offences, signed into law on 4 July 2020, which abolished deportation as a sanction for asylum-seekers and refugees for violation of the rule of stay; 2023
2023
2023
Committee on Migrant Workers "§24- ( c ) strengthen its cooperation with the law enforcement agencies of the main countries of employment of tajik migrant workers in order to provide better protection for its citizens and to ensure that the situation of tajik migrant workers and members of their families , who are held in detention , is effectively monitored;" "§38. provide assistance to tajik migrants who are victims of discrimination, violence and prolonged detention in countries of employment . " 2012
2012
2017
Committee on the Rights of the Child § 65. "Continue to take measures to ensure that asylum claims submitted by children are analyzed under a refugee status determination procedure that takes into consideration the best interests, specific needs and rights of child asylum seekers in accordance with international refugee and human rights law, by strengthening training among relevant staff dealing with refugee status determination as well as the Committee’s General Comment No. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin r) Continue efforts to pursue its generous hosting of the Afghan refugee population r) Ensure that refugee children, including unaccompanied and separated children, receive appropriate protection, and in this regard, pursue cooperation with relevant United Nations specialized agencies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNDP and UNICEF, as well as with NGOs r) Ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons" 2010
2010
Committee on Migrant Workers § 45. The State party: (a) Take all measures necessary to ensure that the rights of children who migrate abroad are fully protected and that children are not separated from their parents or primary caregivers, including by strengthening efforts to engage with the authorities, national human rights institutions and civil society representatives in the destination countries; (b) Take all measures necessary to ensure that children who are left behind by parents who migrate abroad are protected against violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation; (c) Ensure that all decisions relating to migrant children take their best interests as a primary consideration, and that under no circumstances are children deprived of their liberty because of their migratory status or that of their parents; (d) Strengthen efforts to ensure that cases of violation of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families abroad, including deaths, are effectively investigated, that individuals responsible are brought to account and that effective remedies are provided to rights-holders by the countries of destination, and, where relevant, undertake separate and independent investigations. 2019
2019

> UN Special Procedures

Visits by Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
Year of Visit
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children 2021
2021
2021
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances 2019
2019
2019
Relevant Recommendations or Observations by UN Special Procedures
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children 88. (d) Strengthen prevention measures to ensure the protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Tajikistan who may be at risk, in particular widows and members of female-headed households, and ensure access to education and to the labour market, in cooperation with the private sector, to all asylum seekers and refugees, regardless of their official registration status; (e) Integrate the identification of trafficking victims and potential victims into the work of border officials by enhancing the identification capacity of all stakeholders, including border and law enforcement officials, front-line workers and volunteers, in places where refugees arrive and reside; (f) Establish coordination between the implementation of asylum procedures and the trafficking protection system in order to ensure that people identified as being at risk of trafficking during asylum procedures are referred to the trafficking protection system and have access to both refugee status and protection as victims or potential victims of trafficking; 2021
2021
2021
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances 72. Concerning transnational arrests and non-refoulement, the Government should: (a) Ensure that any extradition requests are dealt with in full compliance with international human rights law; (b) Ensure that refoulement of individuals to countries where there are substantial grounds to believe those individuals may be at risk of enforced disappearance is prohibited; (c) Ensure that illegal entry by individuals seeking asylum is not criminally prosecuted and the individuals are able to submit an asylum application; (d) Conduct training and awareness-raising among government officials on the principle of non-refoulement. 2019
2019
2019

> UN Universal Periodic Review

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2016
2017
No 2011
2017

> Global Compact for Migration (GCM)

GCM Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018
2018

> Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)

GCR Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

HEALTH CARE PROVISION

HEALTH IMPACTS

COVID-19

Country Updates
In recent weeks, Tajik authorities have been arbitrarily detaining Afghan refugees and asylum seekers and forcibly returning them across the border into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. UNHCR reports that since 2021 there have been numerous cases of Afghan refugees being detained and deported in the country. Most recently, on 23 August 2022, it documented the arrest of five Afghans–among them a mother and three children–who were subsequently forced into Afghanistan via the Panji Poyon border crossing in the south of the country. Raising “grave concerns” regarding Tajikistan’s practice, the agency’s Director of International Protection said: “We are asking Tajikistan to stop detaining and deporting refugees, an action that clearly puts lives at risk. … Forced return of refugees is against the law and runs contrary to the principle of non-refoulement, a cornerstone of international refugee law.” To-date, Tajikistan has not provided an official response. Since then, RFE/RL’s Tajik service - Radio Ozodi - has reported that more than 100 Afghan refugees have been rounded up and returned, with no opportunity to challenge, or even question, the process. Arrests and deportations appear to be random: Afghans are reportedly apprehended by both the police and security services during raids on housing and work places, as well as apprehensions on the street, generally under the guise of document checks. UNHCR said it could not “establish a single pattern, whether it is because of the legal status, their profiles, violation of the rule of stay, or other. It is a mixture of indiscriminate and targeted arrests and deportation.” Afghans who spoke to The Guardian and Radio Ozodi expressed fears for their safety and said they were not leaving their homes in an effort to avoid arrest. Shortly before the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the government of Tajikistan announced that it would welcome up to 100,000 Afghan refugees. This, however, has turned out to be an empty promise: in September 2021, the country’s Interior Minister stated that the country did not have adequate resources to host large numbers of refugees and by the summer of 2022 there were less than 10,000 Afghan refugees in the country. Non-nationals face various restrictions in Tajikistan. As per government resolutions 325 (26 July 2000) and 328 (2 August 2004), refugees and asylum seekers who arrived in the country after 2000 are prohibited from residing in numerous areas–including major cities such as Dushanbe, Khujand, Kulob, and Kurgan-Tyube–which significantly impedes their access to the labour market, public healthcare, and other social services. Persons found to be violating these regulations are subject to deportation and other criminal penalties. Illegal entry is also criminalised within the Criminal Code (despite the country’s refugee law stating that illegal entry is not a crime). To-date, the GDP has not independently verified the locations in which refugees and asylum seekers are detained in Tajikistan–although some reports have referred to the use of State Committee for National Security offices. Previously in 2016, UNHCR raised concerns that it did not have access to immigration detention sites within the country.
Although Tajik authorities closed the country’s borders to travellers from more than 30 countries in early March, the government initially denied the existence of the virus--even allowing mass public events to be held. In April however, following the announcement that the WHO would send a team to investigate the country’s virus-free status, authorities confirmed the detection of 15 cases in the country. As of 24 November 2020, 11,932 confirmed cases and 86 deaths have been reported. Like its Central Asian neighbours, Tajikistan has long witnessed significant flows of external labour migration, especially to Russia. (In August, undocumented Tajik migrants in Moscow were targeted in raids--see 19 November Russia Federation update on this platform.) Border closures and flight cancellations, however, have left thousands of Tajik migrant workers stranded outside of the country waiting for charter flights to repatriate them. Between April and October, Tajik officials report having returned 70,000 citizens via charter flights. In 2020, Tajikistan established a new law allowing foreign nationals and stateless people irregularly residing in the country to regularise their stay by obtaining residence permits, as well as enabling them to apply for Tajik citizenship after three years. State authorities estimate the new law will benefit some 20,000 people, mostly former citizens of the Soviet Union, who came to Tajikistan before the end of 2016. A signatory of the Refugee Convention, the country has adopted domestic legislation for the purposes of refugee protection under the 1994 Law on Refugees (which was revised in 2002 and 2014). As of August 2019, there were a total of 11,299 persons of concern in Tajikistan according to UNHCR, including 2,287 refugees (the vast majority of whom are from Afghanistan), 2,170 asylum seekers, and 6,842 stateless persons. Research conducted by UNHCR PDES has previously highlighted the severe restrictions imposed on refugees’ and asylum seekers’ freedom of movement, including laws preventing them from taking up residence in large urban areas as well as in border areas and imposing heavy criminal penalties for breaches of movement restrictions (including arrest, detention, fines, the withdrawal of refugee status, and deportation). It has also raised concern regarding provisions in national law that do not conform to the Refugee Convention, such as Resolution 323, which provides that a person who has transited through certain countries (e.g. Afghanistan, Uzbekistan) is considered as having found protection in those countries, which can subsequently constitute a basis for refusal of registration of applications for granting asylum. Law No.590 under Article 5 of the revised 1994 Law on Refugees provides that the national security body of the Republic of Tajikistan shall detain asylum-seekers crossing the border into Tajikistan who do not have a permit to enter, but who have claimed asylum. In such cases, it must communicate information about this detention to the relevant internal affairs departments within 72 hours, while observing the principle of non-refoulement. Under Law No.919, a person who is forced to illegally cross the state border of the Republic of Tajikistan (e.g. as a result of being trafficked) and who claims asylum, shall be detained by units of border troops of the national security body but shall not be subject to sanctions for illegal entry or stay. Little information appears to be available concerning the treatment of migrants or asylum seekers in immigration enforcement and detention procedures in Tajikistan--including during the pandemic. In its third periodic report on Tajikistan in June 2018, the UN Committee on Torture expressed concern regarding reports of torture in prisons and pre-trial detention, including deaths in custody, particularly of political dissidents. Having banned prison visits to inmates during the pandemic, on 16 November it was reported that families would be able to visit their detained relatives again.
Did the country release immigration detainees as a result of the pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did the country use legal "alternatives to detention" as part of pandemic detention releases?
Unknown
2022
Did the country Temporarily Cease or Restrict Issuing Detention Orders?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Adopt These Pandemic-Related Measures for People in Immigration Detention?
Unknown (Unknown) Unknown Unknown Unknown
2022
Did the Country Lock-Down Previously "Open" Reception Facilities, Shelters, Refugee Camps, or Other Forms of Accommodation for Migrant Workers or Other Non-Citizens?
Unknown
2022
Were cases of COVID-19 reported in immigration detention facilities or any other places used for immigration detention purposes?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Cease or Restrict Deportations/Removals During any Period After the Onset of the Pandemic?
No
2021
Did the Country Release People from Criminal Prisons During the Pandemic?
Yes
2021
Did Officials Blame Migrants, Asylum Seekers, or Refugees for the Spread of COVID-19?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Restrict Access to Asylum Procedures?
Yes
2021
Did the Country Commence a National Vaccination Campaign?
Yes
2022
Were Populations of Concern Included/Excluded From the National Vaccination Campaign?
Unknown (Included) Unknown Included Included
2022