DUSHANBE, August 10, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Forty-four Tajik nationals are currently being held in special detention centers in St. Petersburg, Mohammad Egamzod, an official representative of the Tajik Embassy in Moscow, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, many of them have been detained in the centers since May for violating migration rules.  “Conditions in special detention centers in St. Petersburg are much better than conditions in the Moscow special detention centers,” Egamzod noted.

“On August 9, Ms. Sadbarg Ghaniyeva, the chairperson of the Consular Department, Tajik Embassy in Moscow visited the special detention centers in St. Petersburg and met with senior representatives of those centers to discuss problems of Tajik labor migrants,” said Egamzod.  “She also met with Alexander Naumov, the head of Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS)’s office in St. Petersburg to discuss similar issues.”

“On Friday, Ms. Ghaniyeva also visited the St. Petersburg shelter for children “Transit.”  Four Tajik children are currently staying at this shelter and Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry is conducting negotiations with the Russian side on returning them to Tajikistan,” Egamzod noted.