UN Special Rapporteur on human trafficking Siobhan Mullally criticized the practice of the authorities of Tajikistan to involve schoolchildren and students in rehearsals (the word ‘marches’ is popular among the population) on the occasion of holidays and ceremonial events, mass meetings, processions, meetings of high-ranking guests and the President of the country during his working trips to the regions.
On June 8, 2022, Mullally presented to the UN Human Rights Council her conclusions and recommendations on the issue of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, made from her visit to Tajikistan in December 2021. According to her, trade unions and civil society in Tajikistan should contribute to the rejection of such practices, which the Special Rapporteur called arbitrariness.
Tajikistan has long been criticized for attracting students and schoolchildren to marches, but the authorities are not abandoning this practice, inherited from Soviet times. Sometimes the number of participants in parades and processions can reach several tens of thousands of people.
Often these marches take place under the scorching sun in the summer; there were cases when children fainted. At the same time, for example, students are threatened with expulsion from the university if they refuse to rehearse.
The practice of using children in extras, meeting ceremonies and opening of any objects sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. In November 2019, at the opening ceremony of a veterinary pharmacy in Temurmalik district, schoolgirls came out to meet the acting head of the district in summer national clothes, despite the cold weather. The chairman of the district himself and other officials were dressed in coats and hats.
In February 2019, in the city of Levakant, girls in simple dresses met foreign guests who came to the opening of a dairy plant. All adults were dressed appropriately for the weather.
In 2018, in Penjikent, schoolgirls came out to meet the chairman of the region in light satin dresses, although the officials were wearing warm coats.
A tragic incident occurred in March of this year in the south of Tajikistan, where a 14-year-old schoolgirl died. With a diagnosis of pneumonia, she was involved in rehearsals of extras for the upcoming celebration of Navruz. The incident took place in the city of Bokhtar, where hundreds of schoolchildren and college students spent several hours a day rehearsing events for Navruz. It was there that the main celebrations were later held with the participation of President Emomali Rahmon.
