More than 20 Tajik immigrants, who are kept in the temporary detention center for foreign citizens in Yekaterinburg, Russia, complained about the bad and unfit conditions.
Tajik authorities say that they are helping migrants to return home.
In an interview with Radio Ozodi on October 30, this group of migrants said that they were arrested 21 days ago and fined two thousand rubles for violating the rules of residence. Detained migrants say that the decision to deport them has been made, but it is not known when they will be sent home. According to the migrants, living conditions and food are so bad that most of them have already fallen ill.
“We agree to buy a ticket and go home at our own expense, but they don’t give us such an opportunity,” said one of the detained migrants, who did not want to be named due to his safety.
Russian authorities have not explained the detention of migrants.
Yaqubjon Umarov, the first deputy chairman of the Public Constituent Council under the Consulate of Tajikistan in Yekaterinburg, said in an interview with Radio Ozodi on October 30 that he learned about the situation of migrants in another detention center in this city the other day. He said that about 50 Tajik immigrants are kept in this detention center.
“According to the law, after the expulsion decision, it should be implemented within 10 working days. That is, within ten days, if the migrants do not agree, they will complain about it. But this does not mean that they will be expelled exactly ten days later. Sometimes there are other procedures that take longer,” he said.
This public activist said that they provide legal assistance to immigrants. “For example, we go when a citizen is sick. Maybe he has a medical certificate in his hand, but he didn’t show it. There is a citizen who is pregnant, but did not tell the court. In this case, he should be sent home as soon as possible or his conditions should be changed. There is a case where the citizen has not violated the law. He tells us that he has all the documents, but he did not have them on the day of his arrest. In this case, the court will review it and answer it from there. There were also such cases. We try to provide legal assistance in such cases,” Yakubjon Umarov said.
Every year, hundreds of Tajik immigrants are arrested in Russia and deported. Rights defenders say that immigrants in Russia are under pressure and the Russian authorities do not treat them properly.
Source : Радио Озоди