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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Tajikistan
Index
After the Soviet census of 1989, a wave of emigration occurred. In the
absence of a more recent census, the scale of that movement has not been
determined reliably. It is known that non-Central Asians, especially
Russians, were a large component of the émigré group.
According to one estimate, about 200,000 Tajikistani citizens had left by
early 1992. Among the causes of emigration in the late Soviet and early
independence eras were opposition to the 1989 law that made Tajik the
official language of the republic, resentment of the growing national
assertiveness of Tajiks, dissatisfaction with the standard of living in
the republic, fear of violence directed against non-Central Asians (a fear
based partly on the Dushanbe riots of 1990 but intensified by rumor and
the propaganda of communist hard-liners looking for support against a
rising opposition), and, in 1992, the escalation of political violence
into outright civil war. Some of the people who left Tajikistan were
Germans and Jews who emigrated not just from the republic but from the
Soviet Union altogether.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 50,000
to 70,000 Tajiks fled from southern Tajikistan to northern Afghanistan to
escape the carnage of the civil war that began in 1992. The total number
of people who fled their homes during the troubles of 1992 and 1993,
either for other parts of Tajikistan or for other countries, is estimated
to be at least 500,000. Most of these people probably returned to their
home districts in 1993 or 1994, with help from foreign governments and
international aid organizations. The return entailed hardships for many.
Some were harmed or threatened by armed bands from the victorious side in
the civil war. For others the difficulty lay in the devastation of homes
and the collapse of the economy in districts battered by the war.
Regardless of motive, the increased emigration in the late 1980s and
early 1990s deprived the republic of needed skilled workers and
professionals. The number of doctors and teachers declined, and industries
lost trained workers who could not be replaced.
Data as of March 1996
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