Lost No More

It’s always nice to have a happy ending! And we just got one for the story of Husniddin Mashrabov, a Tajik migrant worker stranded for months in South Ossetia.

He has finally left the breakaway region and arrived back in Tajikistan.

In a curious chain of events, Mashrabov entered South Ossetia in May only to find out that he could not leave.

According to Russian border guards, Mashrabov lacked the necessary documents to re-enter Russia — currently the only way out of South Ossetia.

For nearly four months, Mashrabov was trapped in the disputed territory, which is not recognized by the international community as an independent state.

With no diplomatic representation in Tskhinvali, Tajik authorities struggled to find a way to help their national. But, in the end, Tajikistan’s embassy in Moscow managed to get their man out of what seemed to be no man’s land.

Mashrabov returned home just in time to celebrate weeklong Eid-at-Fitr festivities with his family.

— Farangis Najibullah

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