DUSHANBE, March 7, 2014, Asia-Plus – Experts from the CIS member nations will discuss issues related to revalidation of the document on restoration of rights of deported persons.

The CIS Executive Committee press center reports that an expert group will meet at the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk from March 12-13 to discuss a draft protocol on revalidation of the agreement on restoration of rights of deported persons, ethnic minorities and peoples.

This agreement was signed in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on October 9, 1992 and it expired in June last year.

Under this agreement, citizenship was determined on the basis of national legislation, taking into account the provisions of bilateral agreements and international law.  The agreement also envisaged the payment of pensions to citizens, regardless of where their pension entitlement had arisen.

Revalidation of this agreement was initiated by Ukraine, because some 1,000-1,500 people of this category return to this country annually.

According to the findings of surveys conducted by Ukrainian sociologists and other sources of information, more than 100,000 former deported persons are expected to return to Ukraine.  The repatriation process may last during the next 10-12 years.

We will recall that according to official figures, 2,630 Tajik nationals, including 2,462 men and 169 women, were deported from the Russian Federation last year.

Meanwhile, experts assume that the real number of Tajik nationals deported from Russia last year is much higher than the official data shows.