Kazakhstan/Tajikistan: Hundreds linked with IS are brought home

As reported by Radio Free Europe on 1 May and 10 May 2019, the governments of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have repatriated hundreds of their citizens from Iraq and Syria, where they were believed to have joined the Islamic State group (IS) or were children of IS fighters.

• Tajikistan has repatriated 84 minors from Iraq, where their Tajik mothers have been imprisoned under charges of belonging to IS or are awaiting trial.
• Kazakhstan's interim President Toqaev stated that 231 Kazakh citizens were repatriated in the first week of May from Syria, including 156 children, mainly under the age of six, including 18 orphans.

Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, sees here a major shift of policy: "Central Asian governments have long been using the fear of returning Islamist fighters to justify their tight restrictions on religious activities. Their nightmare scenario was always that al-Qaeda or IS militants would gain a foothold in their countries. But now there seems to be a change of attitude: The governments in Central Asia now seem to believe it is better to repatriate and control the militants through special rehabilitation measures, rather than expose them to further radicalization. If this works, it will be of benefit to Christians - and all citizens - in the region."