According to NGO officials who have interviewed scores of refugees both before and after repatriation, the returnees felt both hope and fear. They were fearful about going home having the reminder of what happened last time, and also arriving into winter, notes one NGO field worker, who confirms similar findings by others who have been monitoring the peace process. At the same time, the Tajiks I ve talked to are tired of fighting and tired of war. They just want peace, the field worker says. Also, time has passed and the government and opposition are working together.
People see a role-model for peace there.
Another NGO official who has spent a good deal of time in the villages of returnees has found general excitement about having the refugees back. But the official points out that backlash against ethnic Uzbeks in the aftermath of last August s coup attempt has aggravated the tensions in certain communities. Things are not all forgotten and forgiven, warns the official. There was fear in August, fear of the potential for another war. And those fears were realized in the armed clashes between government forces and Islamic opposition groups east of Dushanbe during the first half of 1998.