The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan warned citizens against traveling to Russia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan has recommended that citizens of Tajikistan not travel to Russia. 

On April 27, 2024, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan published an “urgent recommendation for citizens of Tajikistan,” advising against travel to Russia unless absolutely necessary. The press service did not provide a reason for this urgent recommendation.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan recommends that citizens of the country temporarily refrain from traveling to the territory of Russia by all means of transport without acute necessity,” the statement noted.

The recommendation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan was published against the backdrop of increasing pressure from Russian law enforcement agencies on labor migrants in Russia. Media reports indicated mass detentions and deportations of Tajik citizens from Moscow and several other cities and regions of the country.

Anti-Tajik sentiment in Russia began after a bloody attack at “Krokus City Hall,” where more than 140 people died and over 500 were injured due to gunfire and a fire. Twelve people were arrested in connection with the case, including four alleged perpetrators who are citizens of Tajikistan.

Following the incident, Russian law enforcement agencies in the Moscow region and several other cities and areas conducted large-scale raids, performing door-to-door checks of documents of labor migrants from Central Asian countries, particularly Tajikistan.

For the first time in at least the last ten years, the attitude of Russian security forces towards Tajik labor migrants has deteriorated to such an extent that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, despite the late hour (the recommendation was published at 21:31), urgently advised “to temporarily refrain from traveling to the territory of Russia.”