Russian human rights defender Valentina Chupik says new legislation on migration adopted by Russia’s State Duma this week will dramatically restrict the rights of labor migrants, Current Time reported. Thousands of men and women from Central Asia regularly come to Russia as migrant workers and provide a financial lifeline to those back home. Speaking to
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has agreed with the presidential commission on clemencies to reject a pardon request filed by Karim Masimov, a once-powerful politician who was prime minister twice and is now serving 18 years in prison on charges of high treason and attempting to seize power during unrest in 2022, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.
The European Union and Tajikistan held their eleventh annual Cooperation Committee meeting on 16 July in Dushanbe. As reported by the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan, the two sides reviewed their bilateral relations, exchanged views on the most topical political and socio-economic developments, and discussed cooperation in a vast array of areas, including water, environment, energy, trade, and
The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek said on July 17 that a relative of President Sadyr Japarov has been placed under arrest on fraud charges, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. According to the court’s press service, Ulan Japarov, who is a son of President Sadyr Japarov’s cousin, Rakymjan Japarov, was sent to pretrial detention until
The Chinese Embassy in Dushanbe on July 15 denied media reports that Beijing is building a military base in Tajikistan, calling the reports “groundless,” RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. The embassy responded to a story in The Daily Telegraph showing satellite photos of buildings and what the report claimed is a shelter for helicopters in the
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan’s southern city of Osh have declared a state of emergency after mudslides and flooding caused by heavy rains killed at least four people on July 14, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. As of July 15, the deaths of a 44-year-old woman and her three daughters, as well as the death of another woman,
A court in Uzbekistan has convicted a 26-year-old man for being a mercenary after he returned to the Central Asian nation following a six-month stint in the ranks of the Wagner group where he was recruited from a Russian prison, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reported. The website Migrant.uz published the July 9 ruling by the Ohangaron City Court,
The boyfriend of a niece of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has been sent to pretrial detention on a charge of production of illegal drugs, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. The decision to hold Aftandil Sabyrbekov in pretrial detention at least until August 3 was made three days earlier, the Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek said
A caravan of 26 trucks has been transported across the Caspian Sea from the Kazakh port of Kuryk to the port of Baku by a ferry of the Azerbaijani shipping company ASCO. The trucks were loaded onto the ferry in Kuryk on July 3, Eurasia Today reported. The caravan will continue its journey through Georgia
Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Tajikistan from July 4-6. The Chinese president held talks with Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, and the two leaders signed a Joint Statement on further deepening of comprehensive strategic relations in a new phase. As reported by Xinhua, Xi said during the talks that China will firmly
Tajikistan-China relations have entered a new historical stage, opening up new prospects for extensive cooperation, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said in an interview with Xinhua on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Tajikistan from July 4-6. According to Rahmon, this visit will inject new and strong momentum into developing and
During a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan on July 4, the leaders of the SCO member states accepted Belarus as a new member of the Eurasian political and security bloc founded by China and Russia in 2001. With the addition of Belarus, the SCO membership has now expanded from originally
Turkmenistan and Iran signed a contract on July 3 for the delivery of 10 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas per year, which Iran will then ship to Iraq, RFE/RL reported. Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry announced the deal but did not say what price Iran would pay for the gas. The ministry’s statement said Iranian
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on July 3 held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Astana on a state visit and for participation in a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Tokayev started the talks by saying that China is a strategic partner and one of Kazakhstan’s main allies. President Xi Jinping
During his visit to Tajikistan on July 2, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to discuss issues of development and expansion of relations of friendship and cooperation between Tajikistan and Pakistan, the press service of the Tajik president reported. “We consider the commercial and
The upcoming meeting between the heads of state of Kazakhstan and China will benefit peoples of the two countries, and the agreements to be reached will open a new chapter in the Kazakhstan-China permanent comprehensive strategic partnership, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in an interview with the Xinhua news agency. Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived on
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has released a report titled “The Eurasian Transport Network,” which introduces a new conceptual approach to future developments within the Eurasian Transport Network and outlines key projects and initiatives aimed at improving transport connectivity in Eurasia. The Eurasian Transport Network is a system of interconnected latitudinal and longitudinal international transport corridors
China’s Foreign Ministry announced on June 30 that President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan from July 2 to July 6, RFE/RL reported. “From July 2 to 6, President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th Meeting of the
Speaking in the Mazhilis (the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament) on June 26, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Kanat Iskakov commented on rumors about the alleged existence of foreign biological laboratories in Kazakhstan, Zakon.kz reported. The issue was raised by Mazhilis deputy Rinat Zaitov, who asked if there are US biological laboratories in Kazakhstan?
The chief of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, said on June 27 that about 10,000 migrant workers with Russian passports have been sent to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reported. Bastrykin called the move “a good feature that led to the situation when migrants started slowly leaving Russia.” Bastrykin added that his
