Migration of Tajiks from Russia to Europe, but via which route?

According to some reports, today, December 18, 243 citizens of Tajikistan will be transported from Russia to the city of Grodno (Belarus), where they will attempt to reach Europe.

Photo: Internet

The Telegram channel NEXTA published a copy of a letter from the head of the Belarusian railway, M. Morozov, in which he asks the chairman of the Grodno city executive committee, Goy M.B., to organize the provision of food and special clothing for the migrants.

The letter states that “the Belarusian railway, according to a request from the Head of the Department for Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated December 6, 2021, has planned for December 18 of this year the arrival at the Grodno station at 23:21 of a train with citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan (243 men), coming from the territory of the Russian Federation.”

“According to information provided by the Russian side, the aforementioned individuals are in a difficult social and living situation. Based on this, the Belarusian railway proposes to organize the provision of food and special clothing for the citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan directly at the station after the arrival of the transport, in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis,” the letter states.

At the time of publication, Azda TV was unable to confirm this report from other sources.

Experts believe that the sudden arrival of a large number of migrants in the city of Grodno, located near the borders with Poland and Lithuania, is likely organized with the aim of further attempting to direct migrants to storm the borders of the European Union. According to experts, there are currently some agitators among labor migrants from Central Asian countries in Russia who promise a good life and work in Europe and direct them along the Belarusian route to the border with Poland. Just like a month ago, when a similar incident occurred at the border between Belarus and Poland, which escalated into a humanitarian disaster.

Photo: Internet

Expert on political and legal issues and head of the Intercultural Integration Fund in Poland, Muhammadjon Kabirov, commented on this: “I advise citizens of Tajikistan and citizens of other post-Soviet countries not to believe the agitation and promises of easy migration and a better life in Europe – they will fall into the trap of traffickers, who will simply exploit them.”

“During this cold winter period, it is better for them to stay home in warmth and not expose themselves to hardships and deprivations, as Belarus uses migrants as a lever of pressure on the European Union. A large number of refugees hoping to migrate to Europe are stuck in cold weather at the border with Belarus, with more than a dozen people having died from hypothermia in cold forests and swamps. Migrants should only head to Europe through legal routes and not use the Belarusian route for migration to Europe,” Kabirov added.

The route being offered to Tajik migrants is the same one that was used a month ago by many migrants from Africa, Afghanistan, and Arab countries in attempts to illegally cross the EU border, resulting in a major migration crisis and humanitarian disaster at the border, which led to the deaths of several people.