Strangers across Amu River : community perceptions along the Tajik-Afghan borders / [electronic resource] Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, Kosimsho Iskandarov and Abdul Ahad Mohammadi

SIP1608

"October 2015"

This policy brief is based on a longer working paper with the same title, available at https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/SIPRI-OSFno4WP.pdf

SIPRI and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) are collaborating to promote better understanding of key security developments in Central Asia and to bring forward practical ideas about how the states and societies of the region and the international community can enhance human security in Central Asia. They will jointly publish a series of working papers and policy briefs by leading experts various aspects of Central Asian security.

While securing a total of 2387 kilometre river-border from the potential trespassing of traffickers, extremists and terrorists forms part of the national security agendas of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, for the border communities living along the Amu Darya and Panj rivers, concerns stem not just from these traditional threats but from broader aspects of human insecurity: access to decent livelihoods, quality healthcare and education, and adequate water for irrigation. These every day challenges require a rethink of the question of border security.