On April 25th, it was expected that not 47, but 90 citizens of Tajikistan would return from Syria to Dushanbe. This information was reported by Radio Ozodi, citing the Ambassador of Tajikistan to Kuwait and Syria, Zubaidullo Zubaidzoda.
The Ambassador stated on April 27th that 90 people were supposed to return, but a few days before departure, some women sadly informed that they could not leave as their children were taken by the "habsa" (a special group in the women's camp).
According to Zubaidullo Zubaidzoda, the program of returning Tajik women and children from Iraq and Syria is almost complete. So far, everyone who wished to return has been brought back, except for those who either did not want to or were unable to return.
He mentioned that these women are awaiting extradition agreements or a special agreement between the governments of Tajikistan and Iraq to facilitate their return to the country.
On April 25th, the fourth group of citizens from Tajikistan returned from Syria on a special flight. In total, 13 families were brought back (47 people: 15 women, 17 girls, and 15 boys).
Between 2019 and 2023, over 300 Tajik women and children were repatriated from Iraq and Syria. In May of the previous year, 104 people (29 families) were brought back from Syria. In March 2023, 146 women and children who were evacuated to Tajikistan from Syria in July 2022 reunited with their families after undergoing medical examinations and receiving psychological assistance from specialists.
In 2019 and 2022, the authorities of Tajikistan repatriated two groups of citizens from Syria and Iraq. The first group consisted of 89 children aged 1 to 18 years, while the second group included 146 women and children.
The rehabilitation, adaptation to normal life, as well as the employment and education of women and children returning from conflict zones, are under the special attention of the President of the republic.
The process of repatriating Tajik citizens from refugee camps in Iraq and Syria began in 2017. According to Tajik authorities, since the emergence of ISIS in 2013, more than 2000 citizens of Tajikistan traveled to Syria and Iraq, some taking their wives and children or starting families there. In March of this year, the President of the republic stated in a meeting with clergy that "more than a thousand of them have been killed."
