UNHCR Representative in Central Asia Hans Friedrich Schodder said at a press conference in Dushanbe that there are currently 12,000 Afghan refugees in Tajikistan, 6,000 of whom arrived in Tajikistan by plane earlier this year.

He also said that today negotiations are underway with the Tajik authorities on the opening of borders, since in accordance with international law and the legislation of Tajikistan, each country undertakes to accept asylum seekers. At the same time, he stressed that each country has the right to decide whether to accept refugees or not.

“However, we are negotiating with the Tajik authorities to open borders and issue documents to refugees, since the Tajik authorities have stopped issuing temporary residence permits for refugees since this summer,” he added.