Tajik Travellers Have Tough Time in Uzbekistan

Tajiks travelling through neighbouring Uzbekistan complain that they are being harassed by officials who they say carry out excessive checks and demand bribes to let them pass.



Passengers on trains going through Uzbekistan say their journey is delayed by searches, while businessmen travelling by road also complain that have to bribe officials to let them and their freight pass even when they have all the right documentation.



Although there are increasing attempts to open up routes to Afghanistan to the south and China to the east, and there is also a highway to Kyrgyzstan, most of Tajikistan’s imports and exports come overland by through Uzbekistan.



Hundreds of thousands of Tajik nationals work as seasonal migrants in Russia and increasingly also Kazakstan, and the prohibitive cost of air travel means many opt to go by road or rail, again through Uzbekistan.



At an official level, the issue of train delays is raised repeatedly at regional meetings. Tajik railway bosses says “unauthorised searches” of trains passing through Uzbekistan are to blame for 94 per cent of late arrivals.



But while representatives of Uzbekistan Railways have reportedly promised to improve the situation, this has had little effect so far.



“Time and time again, our employees have to explain the reason for the delay to people who are waiting,” said the deputy head of Tajikistan Railways, Vladimir Sobakov, at a press conference in Dushanbe on July 16, while reporting on progress made since January.



“We have informed the [Tajik] foreign ministry of the situation, and it has requested an explanation from the Uzbek authorities, but there has been no positive solution,” he said.



A source in the Uzbek government denied allegations that trains are held up without good reason in Uzbekistan, or that Tajik traders have to pay bribes to get their freight through.



Daler Nasimov, a resident of the Panj district in southern Tajikistan, tells a different story. He recently went to meet his father who had travelled to the capital Dushanbe from Moscow by rail, but the train was badly delayed, and railway staff were unable even to give an estimated time of arrival.



“When my father arrived, he told me the reason the train was delayed was that there had been a full check on Uzbek territory,” said Nasimov.



Rigorous searches on Tajik citizens crossing through Uzbekistan are not just confined to those going by train. Many business people also report being held up as over-zealous Uzbek officials search their cargo and demand bribes to let their trucks pass.



The difficulty of importing goods via Uzbekistan has forced traders to raise their prices, hitting consumers in the pocket.



“Tajik businessmen try if possible not to have any dealings with Uzbek customs officers and border guards, who operate unfair systems for checking cargo and scrutinising waybills and other documentation,” said Matluba Uljabaeva, who chairs the National Association of Small and Medium-Sized Business in Tajikistan. “All this consumes a lot of time and energy, and makes people reluctant to engage in business.”



One 36-year-old entrepreneur from Khujand, the administrative centre of the Soghd region in northern Tajikistan, said he has encountered major difficulties when transporting goods by truck, especially when the goods have come from Russia or Kazakstan.



“Uzbek police stop us for various reasons so that they can get their cut, even though we have all the necessary documents,” said the man. “We get stopped on various pretexts, and it is taxing on our time and our nerves. They [Uzbek police] tell us, ‘this is our territory and we have our own laws’”.



This trader, who imports cement and crops, said he now makes fewer journeys because of the recurring problems in Uzbekistan, where he has to go through between five and ten police checkpoints.



“We have to pay them a cut to avoid losing time. Sometimes, there are cases when we are detained on purpose so that our visas expire, and then they demand more money from us,” he said.



The bribe exacted by Uzbek officials varies, and those who demonstrate an awareness of their rights are less likely to be harassed.



“They look at the individual, and if he does not have much experience and doesn’t know his rights, then they will take as much as they can,” said the businessman.



Many traders are now using alternative modes of transport to bring goods through the country, he said.



There have been times when he has wanted to quit altogether, but he has always come back to his import business for fear that he would not find another job.



“Some of my acquaintances have started importing goods by train, but this is much more expensive, although it’s a lot less nerve-racking,” he added.



According to Uljabaeva, some businessmen now import their goods by plane despite the added costs this means for their customers.



Mahmadali Shokirov, head of the Association of International Trucking Companies of Tajikistan has also experienced problems with obstructive officials when travelling through Uzbekistan.



He says arguing with Uzbek officers does no good, and when he has tried to prove he has the right to travel in their country, he comes up against a “wall of indifference” from officials at various levels.



“Threats and curses have no effect on these gentlemen. It only makes your situation worse,” he told IWPR.



He said he hoped a solution would be found to a problem that is “beyond our power to solve”, and added that he could see no reason why Tajiks or Uzbeks should have their travel restricted. “We place our hopes in people’s common sense of people - if they wanted to, they could allow people living on either side to feel like they are free citizens,” he said.



Ismail Ibrahimov, an independent commentator in Uzbekistan, confirmed that there is a problem with extortion by local officials.



“It is true that many Tajik nationals, especially those who transport large amounts of freight through Uzbekistan, are forced to make excessive payments,” he said.



But Ibrahim argued that Tajiks were not being singled out – everyone in Uzbekistan is seen as a target by corrupt officials.



“They are subjected to this appalling treatment not because they’re citizens of Tajikistan, but because that’s just the way Uzbek customs officers and police are. They extort payments from our own [Uzbek] citizens, too,” he said.



He noted that Uzbek nationals, too, complain of poor treatment from officials when they go to Tajikistan.



“We’re aware of some cases where Uzbekistan nationals have been treated inhumanely while visiting relatives in Tajikistan. They get arrested, beaten up and forced to admit they are spying,” he said.



The visa system in place between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for the last seven years, adds to the problems facing nationals of the two states. Many Tajiks complain that the application process is deliberately prolonged.



However, Tajik foreign minister Hamrokhon Zarifi said at a press-conference in Dushanbe on July 18 that "some progress" has been made on simplifying visa applications.



"While it used to take 20 days to issue a visa, we have now practically agreed that a visa can be received in one day."



Tashpulat Yoldashev, a political scientist in Uzbekistan, said bureaucratic problems and unfair treatment at a day-to-day level can be traced back to the often difficult relationship between the two countries, and not least the tensions between Tajik president Imomali Rahmonov and Uzbek leader Islam Karimov.



The personal animosity between the two men, he said, had “filtered down to the citizens of the two countries”.



Professor Shokirjon Hakimov, head of the faculty of law and international relations at Tajikistan International University, said that it was crucial to improve relations between the two governments if corruption and red tape on the ground were to be tackled.



“Only an improvement in our mutual relations can lead to an improvement in people’s living standards, economic growth and greater investment, a solution to social problems and a reduction in corruption in the border regions of the two countries,” he said.



By contrast, Uljabaeva believes the best option is for Tajikistan to develop a road network that bypasses its problematic neighbour altogether.



A trade route running from Khorog in the Badakhshan region of southeastern Tajikistan to the city of Kashgar in western China opened in 2004, and has already boosted trade between the two states. However, climatic conditions are so tough at the border checkpoint, which sits at an altitude of 4,400 metres, that the route only stays open 15 days out of every month, and is closed altogether from November through April.



“It is gratifying that our leadership recognises the difficult relationship with our neighbour [Uzbekistan], and is working actively to get the country out of this geographical deadlock,” said Uljabaeva.



She is philosophical on the future of Tajik-Uzbek relations.



“They say that before you buy a house, you should choose your neighbours,” she said. “We acquired our homeland Tajikistan a long time ago, and we don’t plan on changing it. All we can do is come to an arrangement with our neighbour that if he doesn’t want to help us, then at least he shouldn’t obstruct us.”



Saido Nazarov and Tahmina Ubaidulloeva are IWPR contributors in Tajikistan.