Tajikistan - Migration

As a result of the civil war that began in 1991, more than 600,000 people were internally displaced, and 60,000 were forced into Northern Afghanistan by January 1993. Also between 1991 and 1995, 300,000 Russians, 30,000 Ukrainians, and 10,000 Belarussians all left Tajikistan. By April 1997, virtually all of the internally displaced people had returned to their homes. When the peace agreement was reached in June 1997, the UNHCR completed the repatriation of Tajik refugees from northern Afghanistan to Tajikistan. In 1998 the UNHCR started the voluntary repatriation of Tajik refugees from other countries. By 1999, some 20,000 refugees had returned to their places of origin. The net migration rate in 2000 was -10.3 migrants per 1,000 population. The total number of migrants that year was 330,000 including refugees. The government views the emigration level as too high, but the immigration level as satisfactory.