Law enforcement agencies in the capital, Dushanbe, told the channel that the refugees would have to be resettled in remote regions of the former Soviet republic, where they have permanent registration. About 2,000 Afghan refugees currently live in Tajikistan.
A group of Afghan refugees sent a petition on Friday to the United Nations commission on refugees in Tajikistan demanding housing and work, included in their rights as refugees, and urgently-needed food for their children.
The refugees said the decision on the part of Tajik authorities to relocate them was a hostile one. Refugee women told the channel that there are no schools or hospitals, and no jobs in remote regions where their families are registered, raising a real threat that their children will die of starvation.
Afghanistan's embassy in Dushanbe has demanded an explanation for the decision from the Tajik Foreign Ministry, the channel said.
