Tajikistan and UN agency agree on deal to integrate Afghan refugees
2 April 2008 - About 1,000 Afghans who have been living in neighbouring Tajikistan for up to 20 years will be able to apply for
permanent residency and citizenship under a cooperation agreement worked out by the United Nations refugee agency and
the Tajik Government.
In a joint communiqué signed yesterday by UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres and Tajik Foreign
Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, Tajikistan and the UN agency also announced a series of measures aimed at making the refugees
more self-sufficient.
The two sides will jointly conduct training courses for the refugees and their children on professional and technical
education and on Tajik- and Russian-language studies. UNHCR and international aid organizations will also work together
to improve the schools and health-care facilities used by the refugees.
Mr. Guterres congratulated Tajikistan on the agreement, saying the country's people were showing a willingness to
"extend their generosity to others who need protection."
The communiqué was signed on the first day of a four-day visit by the High Commissioner to Tajikistan, the first country
in Central Asia to accede to both the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
Mr. Guterres held meetings with many senior Government figures, including Mr. Zarifi, President Emomali Rahmon, Labour
and Social Protection Minister Shukurjon Zuhurov and Internal Affairs Minister Mahmadnazar Salikhov. He also talked with
refugees and met the non-governmental organization (NGO) partners of UNHCR.
ENDS