DUSHANBE, January 14, 2014, Asia-Plus – In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the Committee on Religious Affairs and Regulation of National Traditions and Rituals under the Government of Tajikistan (CRA), Abdurahim Kholiqov, revealed on January 14 that 169 Tajik students are still studying at foreign religious schools.

According to him, an estimated 2,705 Tajik students have returned from foreign madrasahs.  “To-date, 2,874 Tajik nationals have got religious education at foreign religious schools,” Kholiqov noted.

Tajik student are studying mainly at religious schools in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Yemen.

We will recall that the return of the Tajik students from Muslim countries began in August-September 2010 after President Emomali Rahmon said students at illegal Islamic schools too often "fall under the influence of extremists.”  Rahmon advised parents to bring their children back to Tajikistan.

In August 2010, President Emomali Rahmon warned that foreign religious schools are indoctrinating Tajik students with radical Islamist ideology, and urged parents of madrasah students to bring them home.