Are Tajik migrants banned from entering Russia?

A group of Tajik migrants complains that Russian border guards are not allowing them to enter Russia.

Azda TV has obtained videos in which a large group of Tajik migrants claim that they traveled to Russia by car, but have been stuck at the Russian border for several days, and Russian border guards are not allowing them to enter Russia. According to them, entry is only prohibited for citizens of Tajikistan.

Russian border guards informed the migrants that entry into Russia is permitted only for Tajik citizens under 14 years old and over 60 years old. All other Tajik citizens are prohibited from entering the territory of the Russian Federation.

“Brothers who are planning to come to Russia from Tajikistan, if you do not have Russian citizenship, you will not be allowed in. From today until June 15 of this year, all borders are closed to citizens of Tajikistan. You will not be able to enter the country, neither by plane nor by car. Today, all the guys were denied entry,” reports the author of one of the videos.

According to the stranded migrants, Russian border guards are only not allowing Tajik citizens into the country, while citizens of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and other countries do not face such problems.

In another video, about 200 passenger and cargo vehicles and a large number of migrants can be seen parked on the roadside, waiting to see what will happen to them. The author of one of the videos claims that the migrants have been stuck at the Kazakhstan-Russia border since April 22, but they are still not allowed to enter Russia. According to him, Russian border guards told them that their “system is not working,” but nothing of the sort is said to citizens of other countries.

The Russian authorities have not yet officially commented on the information regarding Tajik migrants stuck at the Russian border. Neither the Tajik embassy in Russia nor other competent authorities in Tajikistan have responded to these reports.

It is unclear whether the ban on entry for Tajik migrants into Russia is a decision from the highest leadership of Russia or a decision made by the border guards. However, most Tajik migrants living in Russia report that after the bloody attack in “Krokus City,” their situation has raised concerns, as the attitude of the authorities and even ordinary residents of the country has changed towards citizens of Tajikistan.