Deportation or service in the Russian army: a dilemma for Central Asian migrants

The Samara region (Russia) will prohibit all legal migrants from working in public transport, taxi services, and education starting February 24, 2024.

This proposal was made by the region’s governor Dmitry Azarov during a meeting of the anti-terrorism commission, suggesting a tightening of control over the employment of migrants. The regional press service reminds that these measures to strengthen control in migration policy have been in place since 2017. In 2023, 3,088 people were deported from this region to outside Russia.

This measure seems quite logical against the backdrop of reports from pro-government Telegram channels about the recruitment of citizens from Central Asia to participate in Russia’s military conflict against Ukraine. No work means that for money, one might go to war. 1 million rubles for a semi-literate worker sounds enticing. Russia needs to create combat-ready units capable of military service. The aforementioned information channels hint at such recruitments of migrants as part of a broader strategy by Russian authorities. Undoubtedly, some migrants may have responded to “interesting” offers, but the number of migrants recruited by Russian authorities remains unclear.

Earlier, the BBC (British news service) reported that “at least 93 citizens from Central Asian countries (19 from Kyrgyzstan, 34 from Uzbekistan, and 40 from Tajikistan) have died fighting on the side of Russia.”

In August 2023, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan Ramazon Rahimzoda first addressed this topic during a briefing for journalists. He confirmed at that time that about 100 citizens of Tajikistan, who had legal issues in Russia, were sent to fight on Russia’s side against Ukraine. The official also stated that Russia reserved the right not to inform Tajikistan about its actions concerning Tajik citizens because there are no official agreements regulating this issue, the minister emphasized.

It is evident that no actions have been taken by the Tajik authorities since such statements were made. We remind you that according to Tajikistan’s legislation, participation in armed conflicts not sanctioned by the Tajik state is a crime (Article 401 on mercenarism), punishable by imprisonment for a term of 12 to 20 years.

As of now, there are at least 20 reported cases of Tajik citizens dying on the battlefields of Russia against Ukraine.