IOM Missions in Central Asia facilitate the return of 181 stranded vulnerable migrants back to Tajikistan
Nur-Sultan – IOM Kazakhstan, IOM Tajikistan, and IOM Uzbekistan in cooperation with Governments facilitate the return of 181 stranded vulnerable migrants back to Tajikistan by land through the territory of Uzbekistan.
On 25 September IOM Kazakhstan received a message from IOM Mission in Tajikistan and Tajik Embassy in Tashkent, that a group of 181 stranded Tajik migrants moved to the check point Zhybek-Zholy in Kazakhstan next to the border with Uzbekistan. Migrants had been stranded due to COVID-19 restrictions and could not leave the territory of Kazakhstan, finding themselves in a vulnerable situation without any living conditions, access to water, sanitation, and food. The situation got even worse considering seasonal weather changes and low temperatures. The group consisted of people who lost a source of income due to COVID-19 pandemic, minors, and elderly persons.
The direct assistance was made possible thanks to the joint efforts of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Embassies and Migration Service departments in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
"This is not the first and certainly not the last group of repatriates’, - says Zeynal Hajiyev, IOM Coordinator for Central Asia, Chief of Mission in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ‘Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis IOM has already supported the return of more than 3,500 migrants from Central Asia."
The direct assistance was supported by the regional IOM initiative "Mitigating SocioEconomic Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Migrants and Communities in Central Asia and The Russian Federation", funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
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For more information, please contact Ms. Svetlana Zhassymbekova, Regional Project Coordinator via e-mail bekmambetova@iom.int.
