Dozens of Tajik migrants have gone missing. Their relatives speculate that they may have been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army.
The problem of forced conscription of Tajik migrants into the army as part of the partial mobilization announced in Russia was first brought up after an incident at a military training ground in Belgorod Oblast. According to the media, two citizens of Tajikistan, who did not have Russian citizenship, started shooting: 13 people, including the perpetrators were killed and 15 were injured.
The media and the Russian Investigative Committee named the dead Tajiks – 24-year-old Ehson Aminzoda (Ehsoni Tojiddin. Different documents indicate different last names – editor’s note) and 23-year-old Mehrob Rakhmonov.
Meanwhile, relatives of Ehson Aminzoda told Radio Ozodi that their son had disappeared on October 10 near the Lublino metro station in Moscow. He left for Russia seven months ago and worked in a restaurant under a patent. He did not have Russian citizenship and was not going to go to war in Ukraine. Russian authorities announced the news of his death on October 16.
According to Ehson’s brother Firuz Aminzoda, “The deceased was not a terrorist, and he had no such thoughts.”
“An ordinary immigrant who wanted to work and build his life,” Firuz Aminzoda was quoted by Radio Ozodi.
According to him, on the day he disappeared, Ehson said he would go to a friend’s house after work, and his phone has been turned off ever since.
There is no reliable information about the second Tajik man killed, 23-year-old Mehrob Rakhmonov. Russian human rights activist Valentina Chupik said she had been anonymously contacted via IMO messenger by a citizen of Tajikistan, who informed her that his brother had been forcibly conscripted into the army. According to him, his brother was serving his sentence in one of the colonies in the Bryansk region, where after torture and threats of rape he was forced to sign a contract to serve in the army. The last time he had contact with his brother was September 30, and on October 15 he was told that his relative “was killed because he was a terrorist.
Chupik assumed that it was about Mekhrob Rakhmonov. She advised her interlocutor to leave Russia.
Almost a month later, the Tajik authorities had no comment on the incident and said they were still investigating the complicity of its citizens in the attack in Belgorod.
From the beginning of the announcement of partial mobilization in Russia until today, the media and social networks reported the disappearance of at least 10 citizens of Tajikistan, most of them young men. Relatives of the missing migrants are anxious that they may have been recruited for the war in Ukraine.
Russian authorities did not comment on the disappearance of Tajik citizens.
The Tajik embassy in Russia, when asked by CABAR.asia, reported that they had received complaints about the disappearance of citizens, but there had been no appeals about the forced relocation of citizens to Ukraine.
“Despite the fact that many relatives of missing people think they have gone to Ukraine, we have not received any statements about the forced transfer of citizens to Ukraine. Claims about missing people are accepted by the police,” the Tajik embassy in Russia said.
Human rights activist Karimjon Yorov, who specializes in protecting the rights of migrants in Russia, told CABAR.asia that some of the disappeared migrants were recruited into the army by deception and coercion.
Passport and service contract
A Tajik migrant who requested anonymity told CABAR.asia that when he applied to the passport service at his place of residence in Russia, he was told that he could obtain a passport only after signing a contract for service in the Russian army.
The interlocutor says that he immediately refused to sign this document and to receive a Russian passport.
“After that I argued with them for a long time. In the end I got out of there and left Russia the same day. If I had stayed even a little longer, they would have already sent me to war,” he believes.
According to him, there were many other young Tajiks who wanted to get Russian citizenship, and they were offered the same conditions.
“Some signed, others, like me, did not agree,” our interlocutor told us.
Lawyer Shukhrat Kudratov, who protects the rights of migrants in Russia, told CABAR.asia that special windows were recently opened at the Sakharov Center for issuing work permits to migrants, through which every migrant must pass. According to him, some were forced there to sign some documents without being familiarized with their contents, including documents for consent to voluntary enlistment into the army.
“We urge you to read carefully any paper you sign. In Sakharov they openly offer: “Do you want to get Russian citizenship? Go ahead and serve for a year. Those who dream of citizenship agree to this offer,” he said.
Kudratov recommends migrants, if they accidentally sign such a document, to be very careful and leave Russia as soon as possible.
Human rights activist Karimjon Yorov adds that the forced conscription of migrants who do not have Russian citizenship actually takes place in the workplace. According to him, migrants are forced to work in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
“In most cases they are told openly: you’re going to war. They raid them and force them to sign contracts,” Yorov said.
According to his estimates, there could be hundreds of cases of forced conscription of migrants, including those with dual Tajik and Russian citizenship.
“Personally, I received about 70 phone calls from migrants saying that they were tried to be persuaded [to serve in the army] at enterprises, at police departments, especially at the Sakharovo work permit office,” Yorov said.
The human rights activist said that the number of complaints from migrant prisoners serving their sentences in Russia has also increased. They complain that “they are coerced, beaten, forced to sign contracts to serve or worsen their detention conditions.
“One man approached us, he was given a suspended sentence, and he can’t leave Russia. He was offered to join the army. They tell him through the district inspector during the paperwork that they will toughen the punishment if he doesn’t sign the contract,” Yorov said.
According to him, those sentenced to 15- 25 years agree to participate in the war for six months or one year.
“In this way, they are exempted from continuing to serve their sentences. They get Russian citizenship and a large sum of money,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yorov draws attention to the fact that Russian law, as well as Tajik law, also provides for punishment for mercenary activities. In particular, this is stated in the Criminal Code of Tajikistan Articles 401 “Mercenarism” and 401(1) “Illegal involvement and participation of citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan and stateless persons in armed units, armed conflict or military actions on the territory of other states.
These articles carry penalties from 12 to 20 years.
The Russian Criminal Code also has an article on mercenarism, but according to Yerov, the authorities do not apply it now since it is not in their interests.
“Now in Russia this article of the law is not applied, but if the authorities change or relations with Tajikistan change, then those who were forcibly or fraudulently involved in the war in Ukraine may be punished,” stated the human rights activist.
“They are the only subjects of international humanitarian law without any legal protection,” the lawyer said. Once mercenaries are stripped of their status as combatants and prisoners of war, they are subject to criminal prosecution even for activities that are legal for combatants. For example, participation in hostilities is perfectly legal for combatants, but not for mercenaries. Main photo: TASS