Rising Cost of Crossing Uzbek Border

Although Uzbekistan’s border with Kyrgyzstan is largely closed, people continue to cross – for a price.

Residents of Uzbekistan wishing to visit relatives or buy and sell goods across the border say they are bribing border guards to allow them through.

The Dustlik checkpoint, close to the city of Andijan, was closed on April 9, after massive protests in Kyrgyzstan which brought down President Kurmanbek Bakiev and led to a new government formed by the opposition.

Fearing a possible spillover of unrest, Uzbekistan hastily closed its frontier and stopped both people and vehicles entering the country.

The measures mainly hit traders who operate along either side of the 1,400 kilometre border, as well as people wishing to visit relative. Around 1,000 Kyrgyz and Uzbek citizens used to pass through the Dustlik crossing every day, and more at other checkpoints.

Yet people are continuing to find ways through the restrictions. Farrukh, a farmer in Andijan province who sells cucumbers and tomatoes at a market in Kyrgyzstan, said he pays border guards at Dustlik a “fee” for every sack of vegetables he takes over the border. The official charge for taking one sack across the border used to be 10,000 Uzbek soms, about seven US dollars, but border guards are now asking for a bribe double that amount.

“Two days ago I managed to cross through the checkpoint. I wanted to go to the market in Osh,” said Farrukh. “The border guards asked me to pay 20,000 soms per sack. They’ve turned the situation to their advantage.”

Traders who cannot afford the bribes complain that their produce is going to waste.

“Everything is rotting,” said Karimjon, who has several greenhouses in Andijan province where he grows vegetables and then sells them in Kyrgyzstan. “The border closure is damaging our trade.”

There are also loopholes at the Karasuv crossing point, gateway to the giant Karasuu wholesale market on the Kyrgyz side.

Restrictions on crossing here were introduced well before the recent Kyrgyz unrest. Early this year the Uzbek authorities issued new rules allowing people to cross at Karasuv only in case of emergency, for example to attend a relative’s wedding or funeral. Applicants have to produce a telegram to prove they have a genuine case.

 “I have a lot of relatives, including my brother, in Karasuu,” says a resident of Khanabad, near Andijan city. “Every time I want to see them, I have to pay a telegraph operator at the local post office to make up a fake telegram for me.”

The restrictions have created a market in such forged telegrams, and the going rate is between ten and 15 dollars, depending on the kind of event it is supposed to relate to.

In other areas, people pay guides to take them over the border via secret paths. Once again, the service comes at a price.

“The guides charge fees that depend on the appearance of their clients – the better they are dressed, the higher the fee,” said a media-watcher in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. “On average, the fee ranges from five to 15 dollars. A higher fee of 15 to 20 dollars is exacted from ‘shuttle traders’ who travel often to Kyrgyzstan.”

The return trip costs roughly the same amount if the traveller is not carrying much, but those heavily laded with goods bought at the Karasuu market have to pay guides about 50 dollars.

“The cost of returning depends on the amount of goods a person is carrying. If they have two sacks, they will have to pay 30 dollars. I usually have twice as much, and I have to pay 40 or 50 dollars each time I come across,” said a shoe seller at the Jahon market in the city of Andijan, where many of the goods end up.

Saidjahon Zainabitdinov, a local human rights activist, says the official closure of the border has had little impact on the numbers actually crossing, and has merely given a boost to corrupt practices.

“The border closure isn’t having a tangible effect,” he said. “The same goods are sold at the markets by the same traders and at the same prices. Small-scale traders may be going bankrupt, but the overall situation at the markets remains unchanged”.

Anvar, a taxi driver who works in a kind of cartel with guides and customs officers, says incomes have risen for people like them since the border was declared closed.

“They can close anything they like, but we will keep on going to Kyrgyzstan anyway,” he said.

This article was produced as part of IWPR’s News Briefing CentralAsia output, funded by theNational Endowment for Democracy.