Recently, Uzbekistan kun.uz reporters to Chimkent, Kazakhstan, Khujan, Tajikistan and Osh, Kyrgyzstan, to witness first-hand how local border guards extort money from transit citizens at border crossings.
Tawu border: 150-200 Somoni
The "Oibbek" port to Tajikistan "charges" the highest. Some Uzbek citizens who intend to go to Tajikistan said that transit was allowed twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. But at the same time, they had to wait for hours in the neutral zone.
Border guards "charge" 150-200 somoni (about 85-114 yuan) to each Uzbek citizen. Of course, this will not be publicized, but in a very simple but torturous way – let people do it in neutral areas, etc.
As a result, citizens have no choice but to go to the entrance to negotiate with the staff and pay money. The money is often transferred through doctors in the port clinic.
If you easily pass the doctor's "check", then this means that you have paid the amount due. Now, neither the Tajikistan Border Guard nor the customs officers will be eyeing you again. In fact, they won't even search your belongings.
Ji-U border: 50,000 som
At the "Friendship" port in Kyrgyzstan, the "transit fee" starts at 50,000 soum (about 30 yuan, the same below). Collecting money here also requires doctors to act as "intermediaries".
This time, the negative certificate of covid-19 pcr obtained by the reporter from the Tashkent International Airport laboratory did not pass the test – the laboratory is not on the List of Kyrgyz approved by the Kyrgyz side.
It is worth noting that even if the PCR proves that there is no problem, it does not mean that the border guards will release it immediately. At the fence of the neutral zone stands a Kyrgyz "intermediary" who publicly introduces the amount of "charges": 50,000 soms for those without luggage.
Kazakhstan border: 175 tenge
Kazakhstan has the lowest "charges" at ports. Customs officers at the "Silk Road" port demanded that journalists dressed as migrants put all the money on the table and without hesitation "confiscated" 175 tenge (about 2.6 yuan) from it.
At the time of writing, it was reported that Kyrgyz officials had been detained for soliciting bribes from Uzbeks transiting through the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan border.
Of course, the above-mentioned negative events still cast a shadow over the efforts of heads of State to promote citizens of neighbouring countries. In addition, the actions of these officials undermine mutual trust and friendly relations between countries and weaken citizens' confidence in the government.
It is believed that in addition to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan will also strengthen service discipline in border and customs departments, because this is very important in bilateral relations.
Source: kun.uz
Compile: Vika