Policy Research Group   - Strategic Insight: Uzbek-Kyrgyz Border Hassels

Uzbek-Kyrgyz Border Hassels
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editor on 28 April, 2009 06:00:00
 
An element of tension has crept into Uzbek-Kyrgyz relations in recent weeks
because of several cross-border incidents. All these incidents took place
mid-April and involved 'crossing' of the border in Jalalabad Province by Uzbek
law-enforcement authorities while chasing smugglers.
Smugling is a thriving enterprise mostly because of regulatory hassles on either
side of the border. Both countries did away with visa restrictions which were in
force from 2000 to 2007 primarily to check the spread of radical Islam in
Central Asia but hindered normal trade and travel.  Uzbek exports mostly diesel
fuel, fruit, vegetables, and cottonseed oil Kyrgyzstan. It imports rice,
potatoes and consumer goods coming from China. Hundreds of traders from both
countries are believed to cross the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border illegally using remote
paths. A major item of their trade pirate media.
Experts don't envision that the current regulatory framework at the border will
change any time soon. But officials on both sides donot agree that regulations
were the sore point  According to a Kyrgyz customs officer, it is unfair to
blame the officers for the delays at the border.
'The primary source of delays in crossing the border is the lack of familiarity
on the part of most travelers with customs regulations. All information is
available here [at customs checkpoints] on information stands in several
languages', he said. And asserted, 'There is an open flow for goods for citizens
of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, providing they have proper customs documents'.
Berlin-based global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, ranks
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan among the most corrupt countries in the world.