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Dushanbe concerned over situation around labour migrants in Russiа

The Tajik diplomat expressed regret over “lending political colouring to the above case, having utterly juridical nature”

DUSHANBE, November 19 (Itar-Tass) — The Tajik Foreign Ministry “expressed concern over the situation that has developed around labour migrants in Russia”, said Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Makhmudzhon Sobirov at a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov.

A report stresses that Sobirov expressed concern that “some Russian ranking officials and the mass media, commenting on the case of the convicted Russian citizen, express very negative views with respect to Tajikistan, Tajik people and the country’s leadership”.

In the opinion of the Tajik side, “such comments as well as lopsided and biased coverage of the situation by the Russian official mass media are at variance with the spirit of strategic partnership that has developed between Tajikistan and Russia as well as good and friendly relations”.

The Tajik diplomat expressed regret over “lending political colouring to the above case, having utterly juridical nature”. As it was reported last November 8, a Tajik court sentenced Russian Vladimir Sadovnichy and Estonian citizen Alexei Rudenko to 8.5-year term at a strict regime colony on a charge of violating rules of international flights, contraband and illegal overflight of the state border under collusion.

The Tajik side reproached Russia at the meeting that “actions of Russian competent bodies on migration questions have damaged the level of bilateral relations; cases of unlawful treatment of Tajik citizens in the Russian Federation have become more frequent”.

“Another statement by Mr Onishchenko on alleged “mass” cases of detected HIV and TB patients among Tajik labour migrants looks puzzling, since official statistics on this question do not prove his words,” Sobirov continued.

Turning to the juridical examination of the case of Russian citizen Sadovnichy, the Tajik diplomat emphasized that “law enforcement bodies of his country are already examining this question in the framework of national legislation and Tajikistan’s international obligations, and an appropriate decision will be taken in the near future”.

In turn, the Russian ambassador expressed hope for the earliest solution of the situation and assured the Tajik side that he would convey the concern over the present situation to his country’s leadership.

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