DUSHANBE, February 27, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- To-date, 38,000 Tajik nationals have been barred from returning to Russia, Saidghufron Abdullo, deputy head of Tajik migration service agency, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on February 27.

According to him, they have been punished for violating the rules of stay in the Russian Federation.

“The ban is imposed under the provisions of Articles 26 and 27 of the Russian Federal Law “On the Order of Entry into and Exit from Russia,” Abdullo said.

He noted that the Main Border Guard Directorate at the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), the Migration Service under the Government of Tajikistan, as well as airports in Dushanbe, Khujand and Kulob had the list of persons barred from returning to the Russian Federation.        

Besides, amendments made to Article 322 of Russia’s Penal Code provide for instituting criminal proceedings for illegally crossing the national border of the Russian Federation, Abdullo said, noting that one Tajik national has been put on trial in Russia this year for such a violation.