Tajikistan's Migrant "Widows"
| Publisher | Institute for War and Peace Reporting |
| Author | Mahasti Dustmurod |
| Publication Date | 22 May 2015 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RCA Issue 760 |
| Cite as | Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Tajikistan's Migrant "Widows", 22 May 2015, RCA Issue 760, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/556834a54.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
While many households in Tajikistan are supported by the money sent home from family members working abroad, mass labour migration also breaks up many marriages.
Around one million people from the Central Asian state spent time working abroad last year, most of them men and the majority in Russia. Many go home for the winter, but others stay on from year to year, put down roots and divorce their wives in Tajikistan.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that there are now 250,000 of these women, left to care for any children with no money coming from the absent husband in any more.
Iroda, from the capital Dushanbe, took matters into her own hands by applying to Russia's immigration agency and requesting her husband's deportation on the grounds that he was not contributing to the household. He is now back home and things are going well, although he is still unaware that she was behind his deportation.
Nodira Abdulloeva, a lawyer with the Human Rights Centre, explains that Tajikistan's domestic legislation is ambiguous - the Family Code requires spouses to "fulfil their obligations" including maintenance payments, although there is no legal provision for stopping an adult family member from leaving the country or forcing them to come back.
