Tajikistan Unravelled
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TAJIKISTAN UNRAVELLED: THE STATE RESETTLEMENT OF CITIZENS BY NADINE WALICKI THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in European and Russian Studies at the Graduate School of Carleton University © Nadine Walicki 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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ABSTRACT The state resettlement of citizens in Tajikistan has resulted in a confused situation. Designed to strengthen the economy and prevent suffering from natural disasters, the Tajik state has failed to implement resettlement policy as planned due to low financial and institutional capacity. The state nonetheless exhibits itself as a “strong-weak” state, with fluctuating capacities. The major actors in this resettlement are state officials, resettlers and representatives of international organizations. Members of each of these groups exhibit a range of responses, play multiple roles and have different experiences in resettlement. As such, none can be considered a unitary actor. Despite their fragmentation, these groups are interdependent and shape each other’s opportunities and outcomes. Their interdependent relationship reveals power as a dispersed and ubiquitous phenomenon in Tajikistan. It also shows that resettlement is a dynamic process changing over time, not necessarily tending towards one fixed destination. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a great deal of thanks to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for helping make this research study happen. Without the financial and institutional support of this organization, I would not have been able to complete this study to the same degree. In particular, I would like to thank Heather Salfrank who first sparked my interest in the topic and later guided me in the fieldwork, all the while providing insightful comments and suggestions. Above all, I would like to thank my father and Jamison for their ongoing support of my travels and this thesis. Their encouragement and interest in this project was a constant source of motivation that I will always remember. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 A FRAGMENTED ACTOR: THE STATE IN RESETTLEMENT.........................................31 CHAPTER 3 IMPORTING THEIR INFLUENCE: INTERNATIONAL ACTORS IN TAJIKISTAN 76 CHAPTER 4 SHIFTING GROUND: RESETTLERS AND RESETTLEMENT........................................106 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................143 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of T a jik is ta n .................................................................................................. 4 F ig u r e 2. G eographical D istribution o f R e s e ttle d H o u s e h o l d s ........................35 Figure 3. Magnitudeof Resettlement: Sending Districts...................................... 3 S' Figure 4. Magnitudeof Resettlement: Receiving Districts...................................36 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF APPENDICES A p p e n d ix 1. In t e r v ie w Q u e s tio n s fo r G o v e r n m e n t O f f ic ia l s ..............................175 A p p e n d ix 2. In t e r v ie w Q u es tio n s fo r R e s e t t l e r s ..................................................... 177 A p p e n d ix 3. In t e r v ie w Q u e s tio n s f o r R epresentatives o f International O rganizations ......................................................................................................................181 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Flying through the Pamir Mountains in a small aircraft, I could see details of the Tajik landscape that were invisible from the roadside. The brown sandy mountains were sparsely speckled with trees. The contour of the mountain rock face seemed to have emerged from a woodcarver’s tool. Patches of green tiny villages were interspersed between the mountains. The villages appeared isolated from any access road. I commented on the beauty of the mountains to my colleague. She turned to me and reflected “it’s hard to believe that something so beautiful can cause so much harm”. Indeed, mountains pose serious challenges for Tajikistan. The mountains are ubiquitous, covering over ninety per cent of the territory. Telephone communication and transport between different regions is generally difficult. Two key mountain passes, including their roads, close during the winter. The closure further isolates the northern and eastern regions from the central and southern regions. Most devastatingly, Tajikistan is host to annual natural disasters such as avalanches, earthquakes, landslides and floods. In an attempt to manage natural disasters before they occur, as well as address population loss and a weakened economy following the civil war, the Tajik government devised population resettlement schemes starting in 1999. Since then, the government has been moving people from locations with a serious threat of natural disaster, overpopulated areas and places with an inadequate amount of arable land to sites with available land that the state has 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 deemed to be safe from natural disasters. The state organizes, finances and oversees the resettlement process and provides resettled households with transportation to the resettlement area, as well as a plot of land and financial assistance at their new home. The resettlement policy documents outline a straightforward household resettlement plan. State agents in departure areas are to compile a list of resettlers, and organize and transport them to the resettlement area. State agents in destination areas must prepare water, electricity, education, health and communication infrastructure, as well as integrate resettlers upon arrival. Despite the clear delineation of responsibilities, this resettlement has not produced straightforward results. On the contrary, resettlement has resulted in a confused and complex situation where the state, international organizations and resettlers are simultaneously shaping and hindering each other’s opportunities. This study focuses on these government resettlement schemes. The main players in resettlement are the state, representatives of international organizations and resettlers. By looking at how this policy is being implemented in practice and how each of the players is acting, I will expose the various notions of power at work in Tajikistan. I will also make conclusions about the state, international organizations and resettlers in Tajikistan. Recent studies on Tajikistan focus on the civil war, the presidency, the Soviet legacy, gender relations and the role of religion. This work fills the research gap on contemporary Tajikistan and adds to the literature on Central Asian and post- Communist states and power. Reproduced with permission