KHUJAND, December 25, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Despite the global financial crisis Russian needs foreign manpower and the Russian General Consulate is ready to provide assistance with placing those Sughd labor migrants that return home in jobs in Russia’s regions that are experiencing shortage of manpower most, Russian General Consul Azim Yarakhmedov announced at a round table meeting in Khujand on December 23.    

The meeting participants included representatives of the branch of the Interior Ministry migration service for Sughd, Sughd’s police directorate and employment center, as well as heads of local vocational-technical schools and NGOs.

According to Shuhrat Ahmadov, the chief of the Interior Ministry migration service for Sughd, more than 52,000 Sughd labor migrants have returned home over the past three months, which is more than four times more than in the same period of 2007, when 12,000 Sughd labor migrants returned home.

During the meeting, it was also noted that of 575,000 crimes committed by Tajik nationals in Russia this year, 160,000 have been committed against their fellow-countrymen.