Tajik officials say the number of Tajik migrant workers who left to Russia and other countries in the first half of 2016 has dropped by nearly 7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Tajik Labor and Migration Minister Sumangul Taghoizoda said on July 22 that the majority had gone to Russia, where there are estimated to be at least 870,000 Tajiks working.
Speaking to reporters in Dushanbe, Taghoizoda said the decline in labor migration is connected to the financial crisis in Russia, the weakening of the country's currency, as well as Russia’s tough new regulations for migrants.
Taghoizoda also said that 436 Tajik citizens had died in Russia from January to June. The deaths included those killed in workplace and traffic accidents, illnesses, and racist attacks.
Taghoizoda added that more than 6,000 Tajik migrants had gone to Kazakhstan in the first six months of 2016 to seek work.