In a seven-part video series, RFE/RL travels with a group of Tajik migrants making the four-day train journey from Dushanbe to Moscow in search of a better life. In the first part, judo instructor Muhammed Ali and schoolteacher Jamshed Nabiev bid farewell to their families and friends. Migrant Express: Full Series
In a seven-part video series, RFE/RL travels with a group of Tajik migrants making the four-day train journey from Dushanbe to Moscow in search of a better life. In the second part, twenty-eight-year-old farmer Umed spends one last dinner with his family in Tajikistan before the start of the long and difficult journey.
The train crosses into Turkmenistan, and the RFE/RL correspondents narrowly escape with their footage after Turkmen police suspect them of spying.
The Dushanbe-Moscow train transits ancient Uzbek cities as Gulya, a chef and mother of four, describes the life and work waiting for her in Russia.
In the final part of the series, the migrants finally arrive in Moscow after four days of travel across Central Asia. Some have jobs lined up already, but for others, only uncertainty awaits.
The migrants aboard the Dushanbe-Moscow train wait through hours of drug inspections at the Uzbek border, but that doesn't stop them from enjoying a little music and dance.
The migrants on their way to Moscow debate the legacy of Tajikistan's civil war of the 1990s, and defend their right to work in Russia.