Photo report TAJIKISTAN

February 2014

DRC Photo Report: Tajikistan

PHOTO REPORT TAJIKISTAN 1

To help vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers cope with freezing wintertime temperatures, the

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Tajikistan conducted a distribution of humanitarian aid in February

and March 2014. This project was generously funded by the German Embassy in Dushanbe. In this

photo, families await instructions for receiving aid at the distribution site. All photos are from the

distribution in Vahdat, Tajikistan on 14 and 15 February 2014.

During winter DRC provided qualifying, vulnerable families with rice, wheat flour, heaters, blankets, and

sunflower oil. Additionally, school children ages 7-12 were provided with winter clothing and boots.

Above, DRC Livelihoods Coordinator Qadriddin Teshaev explains distribution procedures.

Report Pakistan

FEBRUARY 2014

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2 DRC / DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL

The distribution of humanitarian aid is especially crucial in Tajikistan since refugees and asylum seekers do not

receive any form of government aid. “Exacerbating this situation is that Tajik law prevents refugees and asylum

seekers from living in the capital, Dushanbe, or in major cities, and they must therefore reside in small towns or

rural areas where livelihood opportunities are often extremely limited,” says Josh Friedman. Above, a refugee

laments the few opportunities available to refugees in Vahdat, a small city 20 kilometers east of the capital

Dushanbe.

Winter distribution began in the town of Vahdat on 14 February 2014 and also took place in refugee communities in Dushanbe, Khujand, and the more remote districts of Hissor and Rudaki. Above, a crowd listens to how aid will be distributed.


“DRC developed specific criteria to determine the extent of a refugee household’s vulnerability and what

type of aid would be most appropriate for that family. To qualify for distribution, a family must have met

certain vulnerability criteria, such as being a widow, elderly, disabled, newly-arrived refugee, or female

head of household,” says Qadriddin Teshaev, Livelihoods Coordinator at DRC. In this photo, a woman

and her child wait as DRC Community Mobilizer Umrinisso Karimova checks the registration list.

Representatives from the German Embassy in Tajikistan visited the distribution site in Vahdat. Above,

German diplomats based in Dushanbe pose with a refugee family that had received aid through this

project. The banner on the left reads, in Tajik: “Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in

Dushanbe.”

Report Pakistan


DRC staff cooperated closely with an Afghan civil society organization, Majmaai Oriono, and its

volunteers to help prepare the distribution list and actually distribute the aid items. Here, a girl checks

the registration list posted outside the distribution site in Vahdat.

Report Pakistan

On the day of distribution in Vahdat, each head of the family provided their refugee or asylum seeker

card to confirm their identify in order to receive aid. The registration list was capped at 50 families per

day, and on the final day, families who were not on the list were able to receive aid if they satisfied the

vulnerability criteria. Here, DRC volunteer, Khurshed Rajabov, helps a boy try on a coat.

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Some refugees, such as widows and families

with disabled children, live alone and must work

long hours to provide for their families. Pictured

to the right is a vulnerable Afghan refugee

woman with her portion of the distribution.

Report Papekistan

“While Tajikistan does not present an emergency

situation for refugees and asylum seekers, there

are still many displaced people who need help,

especially in the winter. Without basic

necessities in the winter, many vulnerable

refugees and asylum seekers are exposed to

chronic illness and school children may be forced

to drop out of school for lack of adequate food

and clothing,” says Josh Friedman, Country

Director of DRC Tajikistan. Pictured here is a

man and his family after receiving aid.

Report Pakistan


There are approximately 5,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers in Tajikistan, although it is believed that the number of Afghans in the country who would meet the internationally-recognized definition for a refugee is much higher. Above, a man and his sons pose at a distribution site in Vahdat.

Pakistan

”The German Embassy has been very committed to helping refugees in Tajikistan, not just with

humanitarian aid, but also with advocacy towards the government to make sure that refugees have

opportunities. DRC appreciates their interest and willingness to help refugees,” said Josh Friedman,

Country Director of DRC Tajikistan. Above, three Afghan refugee girls pose for a picture following the

distribution in Vahdat.


Refugee women receive aid at a distribution site in Vahdat.

Report Pakistan

Photographer: William W. Castillo Guardado.

Documents

Photo report TAJIKISTAN