A 27-year-old resident of the northern Sughd province was not allowed moving abroad in connection with the upcoming spring conscription campaign.  Border guards said there was an order “from above” to not let young men of draft age go abroad.  

The 27-year-old Abdu Vositov says border guards at the Border Crossing Point (BCP) Ovchi-Qalacha – Kulundu on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border did not let him cross the border on February 21.

He was reportedly told to bring a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office that he would not be drafted into the army.

The border guards said there was an order “from above” to not let young men of draft age go abroad.      

Meanwhile, Abdu Vositov is 27-year-old.  Moreover, he is married with two children. 

Under Tajikistan’s legislation, young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.   

However, there have been reports that young men in Tajikistan are being taken from the streets by people in plain clothes and sent to serve in the army for two years.  Sometimes, the men are reportedly taken without any prior notice.  Detention like these is illegal according to Tajikistan’s legislation. 

In Sughd province, parents have reportedly faced pressure if their sons of draft age move abroad.

Recall, thirty-four military recruitment officers were implicated with wrongdoing during the autumn conscription campaign and disciplinary and administrative action was imposed upon them; six chief military recruitment officers were sacked.

The spring conscription campaign is carried out in Tajikistan from April 1 through May, and the draft affects able-bodied male citizens in the age bracket of 18 years old to 27 years old who are not members of the armed forces reserve.

The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.  According to the Ministry of Defense, every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces. 

Some sources say more than 600,000 young men in Tajikistan are eligible for military service, but some 150,000 of them have received draft deferments or are exempted from the military service and some 100,000 other conscript-age young Tajiks are outside the country in search of a living.

Tajikistan’s armed forces consist of Ground Forces, Mobile Forces (paratroopers of the armed forces of Tajikistan), Air Force and Air Defense Force.