Uzbekistan Moves to Protect Rights of Uzbek Citizens in Russia – The Diplomat

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Russia will expand its staff to include a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan, as provided for in the new decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The representative’s responsibilities include protecting the rights of Uzbek citizens in Russia and facilitating cooperation between Uzbek and Russian law enforcement agencies in the fight against organized crime, terrorism, extremism, human trafficking, illegal migration and other criminal activities, as well as organizing information exchange in these areas.

The decree comes a few days after a phone conversation between Mirziyoyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin. While only the official website of the President of Uzbekistan mention that the discussion focused on strengthening and expanding partnerships in agriculture, education and medicine, as well as the upcoming meeting of the Russian government in December highlighted that the two leaders also “exchanged opinions on the current situation in Syria and around Ukraine”.

As Russia’s war with Ukraine continues, citizens of Central Asia, including Uzbeks in Russia—especially those in Russian prisons—remain vulnerable. The Ministry of Defense of Russia is recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, following a practice initially introduced by the mercenary group Wagner.

Wagner’s late leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, often called “Putin’s chef,” demonstrated the effectiveness of former prisoners in war zones. By May 2023, Prigozhin allegedly recruited more 50,000 prisonersoften personally visiting prisons and offering promises of lavish salaries and ways to avoid lengthy prison sentences. However, approximately 20,000 of these recruits lost their lives in Ukraine.

Prigogine himself was there killed in a plane crash together with his top lieutenants after a a short-lived rebellion against the Russian leadership. But Russia’s Defense Ministry has adopted his recruitment strategy, increasingly targeting migrant prisoners. At least according to the non-governmental organization Russia Behind Bars 53 penal colonies all over Russia were closed in 2024.

At the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, Moscow began recruiting migrant workers. Tashkent was slow remind their citizens not to join foreign armies. The first bodies returned to Uzbekistan from Russia in January 2023 belonged to two young men in their 20s who had previously been imprisoned. Their coffins were accompanied by certificates that they “died in the war in Ukraine”.

Many citizens of Uzbekistan depend on labor migration, with 70-87 percent of migrants who choose Russia as a destination. Factors such as the visa-free regime, an established migrant community, knowledge of the language and some shared history play a role in the choice. Although officially 1.8 million Uzbeks are currently working in Russia, there could be another million unregistered migrant workers.

The exact number of migrants currently held in Russian prisons also remains unknown. Before the Russian-Ukrainian war in Central Asia to calculate for half of all foreign convicts in Russian prisons, with over 8,000 Tajik prisoners, followed by Uzbeks with more than 6,300 prisoners. Kyrgyz citizens in Russian prisons were estimated to about 1,500. It was also not announced how many were recruited. However, stories of migrants being recruited – often under pressure to register – occasionally appear in the media.

Twenty-three-year-old Sh. Tojiboyev from Uzbekistan, for example, was a cafe owner in Russia before he was arrested after heroin was allegedly found in his car. After his body was returned to Uzbekistan, his mother claimed that the charges were fabricated and that he had been forced to join the Russian army. “I don’t serve in the army, I don’t kill people, mother. They forced me even though I resisted,” she said quoted her son as he says. In an interview with the local media, she urged other parents: “Take care of your children. Don’t let them go to work abroad; they will be defamed.”

Russian officials employ various carrot and stick methods recruit detained aliens, with detention facilities and immigration detention centers allegedly turned into recruitment centers, according to RFE/RL. Conditions in prisons were allegedly made “unbearably harsh and inhumane” to force prisoners to join the army. Reports indicate that prisoners are subjected to “severe beatings and psychological abuse”, isolation, deprivation of food and water, and in some cases forced to drink their own urine.

Prisoners were also promised benefits, such as serving a short term in the army to avoid lengthy prison terms, getting Russian citizenship and receiving a high salary. Russian citizenship is highly sought after by many people from Central Asia, as it helps bypass bureaucratic obstacles and makes it easier to earn a living in Russia. Only in 2022. 173,000 Tajiks, 27,000 Uzbeks and 42,000 Kazakhs received Russian citizenship. Another 9,300 Uzbeks became Russian citizens only in the first half of 2023. Only Tajikistan allows dual citizenship, which means that Uzbeks who become Russian citizens must renounce their Uzbek citizenship.

Newly naturalized citizens in Russia must register for military service. By mid-2024, there were reportedly more than 10,000 of these people sent to Ukraine, and many are believed to be Central Asian. Russian officials also said they had “caught” more than 30,000 newly naturalized citizens who tried to avoid military registration.

Whether recruited in prisons, forced to join the military after naturalization, or manipulated while working in Russia, Central Asians are reportedly sent to the front lines of war with little or no military training. Some found themselves in war zones already 10 days after the contract expired. Even after their contracts expire or they are wounded, they don’t always make it back.

Returning home is not easy either. Tashkent occasionally reminds of its citizens that joining foreign armies is punishable by law. Just in November of this year, he was an Uzbek citizen whose name remains undisclosed convicted for five years for recruitment in the Russian army. Local media, citing court documents, reported that he went to Russia looking for temporary work in May 2023, signed a one-year contract with the Russian Defense Forces in November, but had to leave the war zone after being seriously injured.

By mid-2023, there were at least 34 Uzbek nationals reported that he died fighting for Wagner’s forces, along with 19 Kyrgyz and 40 Tajiks.

Amid these developments, Uzbekistan is working to reduce its citizens’ dependence on labor migration in Russia. The government made efforts redirect labor migration flows towards more developed countries, including European countries, South Korea and Japan.

Mirziyojev too signed the law of December 5 aimed at strengthening the protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms of Uzbek citizens abroad. The Act introduces amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, which include provisions on the recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions. It also adds a new chapter detailing the procedures for accepting Uzbek citizens sentenced to prison or other sentences, as well as their transfer from foreign countries to Uzbekistan.

It remains unclear how genuine these efforts are. Recently, during the forum in St. Petersburg, the chairman of the Russian investigative committee, Alexander Bastrykin claimed that some Uzbek officials have openly stated that they do not care about Uzbek migrants.

About three years ago, I was on an official visit to Uzbekistan, said Bastyrkin. “Colleagues from the Uzbek prosecutor’s office told us: ‘Why are you taking them?! Nobody needs them here! But you accept them and give them citizenship.'”

Even when neighboring Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan more than once forced Russia should ensure fair treatment of its citizens who work there, Uzbekistan is silent on the issue.

Appointing a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the embassy may be a step in the right direction, but will require sustained efforts and active engagement to ensure adequate protection of the rights of Uzbek citizens in a country at war with its neighbor. The representative will be appointed by the ministry with the consent of Mirziyoyev and will be subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan.