According to the OECD’s plenary session on fundamental freedoms, repression is taking on new forms in all five countries in the region, extending increasingly into the digital sphere and beyond national borders.
In Dushanbe, a national competition organised by the government to identify the one closest to the 'ideal traits': a family from the Sugd region was awarded. Distinctive traits include the readiness of young people to serve their country, in civil and military functions, and their contribution to counteracting negative factors in the development of society.
The 13th Usaid-sponsored trade forum with the five countries of the region was held in Almaty. Agreements were signed for 10.8 million dollars of credit for companies in strategic sectors, such as IT and green energy, which will provide work for over 8,000 citizens, with particular attention to women, young people, and the most marginalised groups.
More than a month after the attack on Krokus City Hall, the retaliation against Tajik migrants in Russia has not subsided, to the point of prompting a protest note from Dushanbe. Hundreds remain stranded at airports and at the border with Kazakhstan, but Moscow cannot afford to lose the country where its most important military base in Central Asia is located.
Today's news: Uyghurs in Xinjiang have the highest incarceration rate in the world, one in 26 in prison; Delhi begins expulsion of refugees from Myanmar; Seoul raises terror alert in five embassies in Asia amid fears of Pyongyang attacks; New passage of Chinese ships and fighter jets through the Taiwan Strait.
Today's news: The Afghan Taliban launch a nationwide anti-polio campaign; US court sentences Chinese student to prison for stalking threats against compatriot 'pro-democracy' campaigner; Casualties and new school closures due to heat wave in India and Bangladesh; Another two-year sentence for Thai activist in prison for lese majesty.
Moscow is pushing to extend the free trade area created in 2014 with Belarus and Kazakhstan and already extended to Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to all non-hostile former Soviet countries. But the Eurasian countries are gaining big economic benefits from geopolitical tensions. With the oil sector, in particular, now poised between traditional routes and new prospects of collaboration with Westerners.
Today's news: Record gold seizure at Hong Kong customs worth more than $10 million; For the Thai premier, it is time for talks with the coup junta in Myanmar, which is starting to 'lose strength'; Beijing blocked a popular Tibetan-language blog; Meeting between the foreign ministries of Russia and China, Putin's visit to Xi Jinping on the agenda.
Today's news: reports of workplace abuse have doubled in South Korea in five years; Baghdad will send 10 million liters of fuel to the Gaza Strip; Public apology from a company in Malaysia for a shoe logo that resembles the word "Allah"; The Taliban have built a wall around the Eidgah mosque in Kandahar for fear of ISIS attacks: Moscow has slowed issuing work permits to migrants from Central Asia.
The number of Tajiks involved in the Moscow massacre is increasing, with arrests and verifications also by the Dushanbe authorities. Despite the clampdown on mosques, recruitment is taking place via social networks, among the most marginalised sections of the population. And the hostility that is forcing many migrants to return home could have repercussions on the country ruled by Rakhmon for thirty years.
The Isis cell in the region between Afghanistan and Central Asia sees Russia as the main support for its two worst enemies, the regimes in Kabul and Tehran. While in Tajikistan, President Rakhmon stigmatises the high number of Tajiks among the militia, but according to his opponents their radicalisation is the effect of his twenty years of repression.
The news following the court session that validated the arrests triggered a wave of intolerance towards Tajiks and immigrants, with calls on social media to kick all Asian taxi drivers out of the country. President Rakhmon called Putin on the phone, expressing his strong condemnation of the terrorist act and confirming that 'they belong neither to our nation nor our religion'.
Today's headlines: Senior doctors in South Korea join trainee doctors’ protest. India's foreign exchange reserves reach their highest level in two years. Iran is beset by a severe nursing shortage with more than 3,000 emigrating abroad a year. Thailand is considering legalising casinos. The Chinese are quietly occupying Siberia, raising concerns among local Russians.
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