Greg Palast & Dispatches TV - World News online - Ben Zand: Dictatorland TV - Simon Reeve TV -
This is one of the most polluted places on earth ... A toxic swamp. It survives on the $26 billion a year it earns from oil. Tajikistan is not a democracy ... It is considered one of the world’s most corrupt regimes. Greg Palast, Dispatches: BP: In Deep Water, Channel 4 2011
United Nations – UN human rights office voices concern after Tajikistan bans Islamic political party … The United Nations today voiced concern about an increasing risk of human rights violations connected with the recent banning of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), and the arrest and detention of more than a dozen of its members since early September. World News online article
It’s been ruled since 1996 by President Emomali Rahmon who is also officially known as the Leader of the Nation, and Founder of Peace and National Unity. Ben Zand in Dictatorland III: Tajikistan, BBC 2017
People in Tajikistan have an average income of just £800 a year. ibid.
Central Asia: Cnce part of the Soviet Union. It’s a region dominated by oil, Islam and enough radioactive waste to terrify the West. China, Russia and China are all vying for power here. The countries are strategically vital and they’re all called Stan. Simon Reeve: Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans: Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan, BBC 2003
The future of central Asia lies in these vast oil and gas reserves – the largest untapped energy reserves on the planet. ibid.
Tajikistan – Afghanistan’s mountainous northern neighbour – is the poorest and most lawless of the countries in central Asia. The economy is still reeling after a civil war in the 1990s killed up to 150,000 people. At least 80% of the population live in poverty. Simon Reeve: Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans: Uzbekistan & Tajikistan
A major drug transit route … Drug money is really starting to change this place. ibid.
They also have huge mineral resources. ibid.