Turn off Russian television, turn on the internet! – advice to the government of Tajikistan

Human rights defender Valentina Chupik assessed the detentions at airports in Russia of both citizens of Tajikistan and neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as racism. In an interview with Radio Ozodi on May 2, 2024, the human rights advocate shared her observations on the situation at Russian airports.

Valentina Chupik: In the past two days (May 1-2), I have not received reports of new detentions. I emphasize that this concerns not only citizens of Tajikistan. Citizens of Tajikistan make up about a quarter of all illegally detained individuals. Approximately half are citizens of Uzbekistan. The number of detained citizens of Kyrgyzstan is not much less. And the number of detained citizens of Uzbekistan is twice that of citizens of Tajikistan. They are detaining entire flights; it is not only Tajik flights, but various flights, mostly from Central Asian countries. However, there was also a report of a plane from Armenia being detained and one from Azerbaijan. They are really just detaining people with non-Slavic appearance. This is ordinary Russian Nazism. It has nothing to do with discrimination based on nationality; this is racism. The fact is that if individuals with Slavic appearance arrive on a flight from Tajikistan, they are allowed through. I have such reports. But if individuals with non-Slavic appearance arrive, they are not allowed through. I also have reports of citizens of Russia being denied entry. That is, these citizens were successfully allowed through, but they were held at the border for more than 18 hours. So this is racism; it is not about citizenship. It is not about citizenship; it is about nationality, about appearance, about not being a blue-eyed blonde. As far as I know, about 4,500 citizens have been detained at all airports. The number of vehicles detained at land border checkpoints is unclear. But I think you also see these videos of huge queues of cars at the checkpoints. I know that trucks were allowed to bypass, and special checkpoints were opened for them so they would not stand with passenger vehicles. So instead of solving the problem, they are exacerbating it.

Radio Ozodi: The issue of the oppression of citizens of Tajikistan at the Russian border became a topic of discussion between ministers Lavrov and Mukhriddin, where the Russian diplomat linked it to anti-terrorist measures following the attack on “Krokus.” However, even after this, Moscow does not intend to change its behavior; why is that?

Valentina Chupik: I think they are afraid to show that they are ashamed and that they have succumbed to the pressure from the countries of origin of the migrants. I believe this is the case. However, I think that since there have been practically no new reports, this could be for two reasons: people have stopped flying and coming to Russia, or there are no new detentions, or people’s phones are being taken away, which is also possible. But such large-scale confiscation of phones usually does not happen, so I assume that they are simply not detaining new flights and new vehicles, and that there are people who were detained earlier. I base my opinion on citizens’ appeals. I think they will either send home those who have been detained for a long time or allow those who have been detained for a short time to enter Russia. Why do I think it will be this way? Because people who have been detained for more than two days have the full right to complain, they have the full right to file complaints with the prosecutor’s office and courts about the illegal actions of border service employees. To prevent this, they would prefer to deport them. At the same time, those who have been detained for less than 48 hours, I think, to avoid escalating the conflict with the countries of origin, they will gradually let them in so that the 48 hours do not expire.

Radio Ozodi: In this situation, do you still hope for them to comply with the laws?

Valentina Chupik: No, I do not hope. I think they sporadically fulfill the requirements of the law, in which there are mechanisms for appeal. For example, there are no legal mechanisms to contest the assertion that people must be held in safe conditions that guarantee life and health, because they do not provide food and do not ensure normal access to toilets. But at the same time, they can state in court or to the prosecutor’s office or publicly declare – it is clear that any Russian courts and prosecutor’s offices will automatically be on their side. But as a public argument, they can claim that people were safe, people were cramped, but not offended, no one was mocking them, and the fact that they were not fed, not given water, not allowed to use the toilet, and not provided with communication with relatives – this is not mockery, this is an ordinary check, as if it just happened, we do not have enough staff. At the same time, detentions over 48 hours without sending back and without allowing entry into Russia can be contested, because there is a specific norm – 48 hours. If a person has been held for more than 48 hours, then this can be contested and the courts should somehow respond to this. Therefore, they will not fulfill all the requirements of the law, but only those that can be contested. There are legal mechanisms.

Radio Ozodi: According to your information, are detentions of migrants occurring at all entrances through airports, train stations, and land border points throughout Russia, or are they limited only to central cities and the Kazakh side?

Valentina Chupik: I do not know of any cases at the train stations. I have not had any discussions regarding the railway routes. However, there are reports from all airports: all airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg “Pulkovo,” Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Samara, Rostov, Orenburg. In Orenburg, the airport is small. And they manage to have delays there. What is there to delay, only Kazakhs arrive there? Nevertheless, all this is happening. As far as I know, I have not received any inquiries, but, as far as I know, Novosibirsk has not accepted any either.

Radio Ozodi: You claim that 25% of those detained are citizens of Tajikistan, and twice as many are citizens of Uzbekistan. How do you conduct this count, considering that you are far from Russia?

Valentina Chupik: I count passengers on flights, so I can estimate the number of those detained at airports. People say that only 2-3 individuals were allowed to board from the flight. I estimate that the flight is 80% full. Of those, let’s say, not 2, but 5 people are not allowed to board. The number of passengers on the flight, multiplied by 0.8 and minus 5. From this, I draw conclusions about the number of those detained at airports. I cannot draw any conclusions about the number of those detained at land border posts with Kazakhstan because I have nothing but videos showing thousands of cars here.

Radio Ozodi: How many complaints and inquiries are you receiving these days?

Valentina Chupik: Yesterday I did not have any, but I had 11 inquiries from those previously detained. On average, about 40-50 inquiries come in per day, up until yesterday. These people say that the entire flight has been detained. I ask which flight number has been detained and check if there is a duplicate message about people from that same flight. In this case, I count that flight only once.

Radio Ozodi: In the current situation, what would you recommend to the citizens of Tajikistan?

Valentina Chupik: May I address the government of Tajikistan? Please, turn off Russian television, and please, turn on the internet! Because what you are doing is deceiving your population with Russian propaganda. You are creating enemies within the country, who, firstly, harm themselves and their families, and secondly, they will harm your country, because God forbid, if Russian aggression occurs, unfortunately, distance offers little protection. God forbid, these people will not defend their Tajikistan, because they do not know that Tajikistan is their country, they are not aware that Tajikistan is an independent state. Turn off Russian television, turn on the internet, so that people have access to normal information, not this nonsense.