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Authorities Find Secret Tunnel Connecting Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

Another underground passage has been found in the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan, which was being used to illegally transport both people and contraband goods into neighboring Uzbekistan. The suspects involved have been arrested. That's according to a report from news outlet, Kaktus, which references information from the press service of the Department of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan's Osh region. On April 5, officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Osh region arrested a female citizen of Uzbekistan who illegally crossed the Kyrgyz border. During the investigation, it turned out that she crossed the international border into Kyrgyzstan through a secret tunnel connecting the two countries. The police opened a criminal case under Article 168 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan on “Organization of illegal migration, illegal importation of migrants.” On the night of April 12, a local citizen was arrested in the Nooken district suspected of organizing illegal crossings of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border for payment. According to police, during the arrest, specially marked currency and night vision binoculars were confiscated. In addition, 87 boxes of narcotics with an initial value of about $30,000 dollars were found in his house. This is the third secret underground passageway discovered, with two secret underground tunnels connecting the city of Khanabad, Andijan region (Uzbekistan), with Bekabad village, Suzok district, Jalalabad region (Kyrgyzstan) having previously been identified. Members of a cross-border criminal group consisting of citizens of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan were captured. On March 17 of this year, a Kyrgyz citizen took a total of 813 mobile phone devices in 16 bags to Uzbekistan using an underground tunnel, and tried to take 1.745 kilograms of gold bars and jewelry out of the country. They were apprehended with physical evidence.

Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Export/Import Border

Hundreds of Cargo Trucks Queued Up at Kyrgyzstan Border to Enter Kazakhstan

At the main vehicle checkpoint in Kyrgyzstan for crossing into Kazakhstan, the Ak-Tilek checkpoint, border guards counted 430 trucks queuing, while only 342 vehicles passed through the checkpoint yesterday. At the neighboring checkpoint on the border with Kazakhstan, about 90 trucks are in line. Customs officers on both sides deny involvement in the traffic jams that have formed at the border. All checkpoints on the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan state border are operating normally, according to the Information and Communications Department of the Border Guard Service of the State National Security Committee of Kyrgyzstan. "Both from the side of the Border Service of the Kyrgyz Republic and from the side of the Border Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan there are no restrictions for the passage of cargo vehicles," the Kyrgyz Border Service said. Border guards attributed the queue at the border to the start of the spring season. Following the New Year holidays (February 10th-17th) in China, the transit of goods to Russia through Kyrgyzstan usually increases in spring, and agricultural products begin to appear, first meat and later, vegetables and fruit. According to Kyrgyz border guards, cargo vehicles with perishable products and animals are crossing the checkpoint out of turn. For every day of idle time, merchants say, they lose more than a hundred dollars. Queues of trucks are not uncommon at the Kyrgyz-Kazakh state border. There have been cases when truckers from Kyrgyzstan carrying cargo to Russia had to wait at the border for weeks. The reasons for these long queues can be attributed to numerous causes. For example, last summer about 500 trucks queued at the border, and representatives from the Eurasian Economic Commission came to the site to sort out the situation. Kazakh customs officers attributed the long wait to a special operation to catch drug traffickers. Another time, Kazakhstan's customs officers didn't allow trucks from Kyrgyzstan to pass without navigation seals - which are GPS-enabled locks on cargo containers - which would have helped Kazakhstani authorities track the movements of goods. Each time, the two sides blamed the other. The Kyrgyz side believes that the Kazakhs artificially create obstacles at the border to weaken competition from Kyrgyzstan, and the Kazakh authorities accuse Kyrgyz truckers of unwillingness to comply with Astana's requirements and submitting fraudulent documents for cargo. Because of this, both truck drivers and cargo owners suffer, especially if they are transporting fresh fruits and vegetables, which can spoil before reaching their destination, which is most often in Russia. Kyrgyz merchants claim to be looking for alternative routes to deliver their cargo to Russia.

Border

Enclaves and Exclaves: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Demarcate 90% of Border

Representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan met in Bishkek on February 5th to complete negotiations on another 3.71 km of the common state border, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic has reported. The next meeting will be held in Tajikistan, with no date yet specified. Currently, approximately 90% of the border has been demarcated, with the remaining 10% still considered disputed. A long-standing source of conflict between the two nations, it is emblematic of the problem that even the length of the border - sometimes cited as being 975-kilomtres long, and at others times 972-kilomteres - is rarely agreed upon. As of January 2023, Tajikistan’s President Rahmon stated that 614-kilometres had been settled upon, backtracking on a previously stated figure of 664. In a sign of thawing relations, however, on November 9th 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic announced that a further 17.98 kilometers of the border had been agreed. With its scant natural resources and dwindling water supplies, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been the scene of numerous skirmishes for many years. In 2014, all borders between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were closed indefinitely to Kyrgyz and Tajik citizens following clashes over a bypass road in disputed territory; mortars were fired and both armies suffered casualties. Trouble spilled over again throughout 2021 and 2022, reportedly starting over a water dispute in the Vorukh enclave, and leaving an unknown number in the hundreds killed, and up to 136,000 people evacuated. An enduring example of the chaos left behind by the USSR, the arbitrary division of Central Asia into Soviet Socialist Republics wholly disregarded existing cultural and geographical realities. This is exemplified by Stalin's application of Lenin’s policy on the “self-identification of working people,” a classic divide-and-rule play which saw culturally Tajik cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara being incorporated into Uzbek territory. In exchange, Tajikistan was given the inhospitable Khojand landmass surrounding the Fan Mountains. As late as 1989, Tajikistan petitioned Mikhail Gorbachev for the ‘return’ of Samarkand and Bukhara. This haphazard division also isolated around 100,000 residents in the Ferghana Valley from their central governments, creating eight large enclaves. Although three of these enclaves had populations fewer than 10,000 and two were used exclusively for pastures, the remaining three - Sokh (Uzbekistan within Kyrgyzstan), Vorukh (Tajikistan within Kyrgyzstan), and Shakhimardan (Uzbekistan within Kyrgyzstan) have repeatedly proven problematic, particularly when countries enforce strict border regulations in response to disputes and disagreements over demarcation arrangements. These enclaves have been hotbeds for conflict: between 1989 and 2009, the Ferghana Valley witnessed approximately 20 armed conflicts, and in 2014 alone, Kyrgyzstan reported 37 border incidents.

Border

Tajik President, Kyrgyz FM Discuss Border Delimitation

The ongoing process of delimiting the state border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was discussed during a February 5th meeting between Tajikistan’s president Emomali Rahmon and Kyrgyzstan’s minister of foreign affairs Jeenbek Kulubaev in Dushanbe. The parties announced that over the past four months the Kyrgyz and Tajik sides have reached an agreement on 196km of the state border, and to date almost 90% of their 975km border has been prepared for demarcation, the Tajik president’s press service said. Mr Rahmon and Mr Kulubaev also discussed the joint use of water resources of transboundary rivers, and the expansion of commercial and economic relations between the two countries. The delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border has been an issue since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The issue has turned into an urgent problem in recent years after several deadly clashes took place along disputed segments of the border. Many border areas in Central Asian republics have been disputed since 1991. The situation is particularly complicated around the numerous exclaves in the Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet.

Water Border

Kazakhstan And Kyrgyzstan Address Border And Water Issues

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will be working together to open an additional checkpoint for goods vehicles on their countries’ border. They are also set to further their cooperation in the water and energy sectors. These agreements were reached at a meeting between the Kazakh prime minister, Alikhan Smailov, and the chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s cabinet of ministers Akylbek Japarov in Almaty on February 1st. Kyrgyzstan has complained for years about long lines at the Kazakh border for its cargo trucks bringing goods to Russia through Kazakhstan. The most recent big traffic jam occurred on the Kyrgyz side of the border in August 2023, when more than 600 trucks were stuck at the crossing. These delays were caused by Kazakh authorities carrying out enhanced checks on trucks entering the country from Kyrgyzstan, ostensibly to combat illegal border activity. However, the situation caused speculation that the jams were a result of a dispute over irrigation water resources between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Irrigation water remains an issue in Kazakh-Kyrgyz relations. Last summer the southern regions of Kazakhstan experienced a severe shortage of water for their fields, while upstream Kyrgyzstan also lacked water and couldn’t supply enough of it to its northern neighbor. Kazakhstan, especially its dry southern regions, is dependent on water coming from Kyrgyzstan. At the meeting on February 1st Mr Smailov also spoke about the growing trade between the two countries, with bilateral trade growing by 12% and reaching $1.3bn between January and November 2023.

Border

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan Agree on Another Border Section

Delegations from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have conducted more work on the definition and designation of the state border, agreeing on the divination of another 11.88 km at a meeting in Buston held between the 17th and 23rd of December. The two parties also agreed to continue determining the remaining sections oat the next meeting to be held in Kyrgyzstan. A long-standing source of conflict between the two nations, it is emblematic of the problem that even the length of the border - sometimes cited as being 975-kilomtres long, and at others times 972-kilomteres - is rarely agreed upon. In January 2023, Tajikistan’s President Rahmon stated that 614-kilometres have been agreed upon, backtracking on a previously stated figure of 664. With its scant natural resources and dwindling water supplies, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been the scene of numerous skirmishes for many years. In 2014, all borders between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were closed indefinitely to Kyrgyz and Tajik citizens following clashes over a bypass road in disputed territory; mortars were fired and both armies suffered casualties. In 2021 and 2022, troubles flared up again. Several hundred kilometers of the border have not yet been defined. This situation developed after the collapse of the USSR, leaving the parties unable to agree on dozens of disputed areas. The non-delimited territories become a conflict zone between the local population, and the border guards of the two countries became involved. The last major conflict occurred on September 16th 2022, as a result of which hundreds of people were killed and injured on both sides, and massive damage was caused to the infrastructure in Sughd and Batken. The Presidents of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon and Sadyr Japarov, have repeatedly discussed delimitation of the border. The situation in the disputed areas is also closely monitored by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). In recent years, the authorities of the two countries have been actively negotiating to resolve this issue. Meetings have been held alternately on the territory of the two republics. Currently, more than 90%, or about 885 km of the border has been mutually recognized by States.