DUSHANBE, November 13, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Nearly 300 Tajik nationals are currently waiting for deportation at temporary detention centers in Russia, Zalina Kornilova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS), told Russian media outlets on November 11.

“297 Tajik nationals that will be deported from Russia by court’s decision are currently at the temporary detention centers,” the website of the Russian ruling party, United Russia, reports referring to the FMS representative.

Some Russian media outlets and experts suggest that it is response to the verdict passed on Russian-hired pilots in Tajikistan this week.

We will recall that the Qurghon Teppa city court sentenced Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy (Russian national) and Captain Aleksey Rudenko (citizen of Estonia) to 8 ½ years in prison each on November 8.  The sentence followed their conviction on charges of smuggling, illegal border crossing, and violating international air carriage regulations.

The pilots were arrested in March, when the An-72 cargo planes they were piloting landed at the Qurghon Teppa airport for unscheduled refueling en route to Russia from Afghanistan.  The cargo of one of the planes included a disassembled aircraft engine that was not listed on the customs declaration.  Both of the planes, owned by Rolkan Investment Ltd., a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, were confiscated by Tajik authorities.

Russian media outlets quoted the FMS director Konstantin Romodanovsky as saying on November 11 that Russian authorities are considering deporting some 100 Tajik migrants who have records of “committing various violations in Russia.”  Romodanovsky also said that another 134 Tajik citizens were arrested on November 10 in Moscow for allegedly “violating migration law,” and “I do not rule out the possibility that they will be deported as well.”

According to some sources, some one million Tajik nationals are engaged in seasonal jobs in Russia, and the remittances they send to their relatives keep many struggling families at home above the poverty line, and help to alleviate the stress caused by a lack of domestic job opportunities.

In the meantime, the Afghan authorities have confirmed that the pilots working for Rolkan Investments Ltd were arrested at their request, BBC’s Russian Service reported.  Besides, the source in Kabul, who wanted to remain unnamed, told the BBC that seven employees of Afghan national air carrier, Ariana Airlines, had been arrested.  They are accused of helping the Rolkan Investments Ltd pilots illegally leave Afghanistan.