Caravanserai

Tajik Interior Ministry offers to help former militants return from Syria, Iraq

Caravanserai

DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's Interior Ministry (MVD) is promising to help former Tajik militants stranded in Syria and Iraq return home, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)'s Tajik service reported Sunday (October 21), quoting the MVD's own newspaper.

In the most recent issue of "Konun va Jomea" (Law and Society), the MVD ran an announcement encouraging homesick Tajik insurgents to contact the ministry via phone or various messaging apps such as Viber, IMO, Telegram and WhatsApp.

The MVD said it would keep such requests confidential and inform the applicant the results of its investigation of him or her.

Allowing Tajiks who were duped into joining insurgencies to come home without prosecution saves them from the despair that creates suicide bombers, according to the MVD.

In the past month, the MVD has helped four Tajik citizens come home, according to the ministry.

More than 1,100 Tajiks joined "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria and Iraq, according to RFE, of which at least 300 have been killed in combat in the past few years.

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