Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan turn to civilian militias to secure borders

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/16/kyrgyzstan-uzbekistan-civilian-militias-border-security

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Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are strengthening security along their borders with the help of civilians, in a move that could add to tensions already present along their ill-defined shared frontiers – particularly in the troubled Ferghana Valley.

Earlier this month, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed a bill that provides for arming elements of the population living in border areas and training them to work with local border-guard units. The bill says civilians would help to secure “remote mountain areas.” About 93% of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous.

Ideally, these recruits would be hunters in their daily life. The state would provide them with uniforms and mobile-communications equipment and pay them a wage for helping border guards keep watch for infractions.

Smuggling – from cotton and gasoline to narcotics – and livestock theft are common along all of Central Asia’s borders. The problems are particularly acute along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz frontier owing to the dense population and abundance of land suitable for maintaining herds. Both countries are on transit routes for narcotics trafficked out of nearby Afghanistan.

Border guards are often accused of either turning a blind eye to smuggling and rustling by their countrymen, or participating in it.

On 6 October, Uzbekistan’s government also approved new Chegara Posbonlari (Border Sentinels) – volunteer units to assist border-guard forces. The pro-government youth group Kamolot previously formed such volunteer units – Kamolot Posbonlari – back in 2010 to help patrol borders with Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

There was no mention of arming the Chegara Posbonlari, but they, like their Kyrgyz counterparts, will receive mobile-communications equipment. The regulations do not appear to be very precise or detailed. They indicate the Chegara Posbonlari are only supposed to watch for illegal activity along the border and report it to border guards.

None of the five Central Asian states can claim to have all of its borders demarcated. The Uzbek-Kyrgyz border might be the worst-defined frontier within Central Asia.

The combination of illegal activity and an unclear border has fueled conflicts between communities on opposite sides of the boundary. Border guards have often been needed to restore peace between Uzbek and Kyrgyz villagers, but they do naturally tend to side with their countrymen in these disputes.

The introduction of these semi-official civilians could stoke these conflicts.

RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ozodlik, heard from an Uzbek border guard that these Posbonlari are already exceeding their authority in some areas they patrol. The border guard, who provided information under condition of anonymity, said members of these volunteer border forces have often demanded money to allow people to cross into Uzbekistan.

Some people are not intimidated by these volunteers with no uniforms or badges and refuse to pay what is clearly a bribe.

In some cases sentinels have let people across, then detain them for illegally crossing the border, threatening to call in the real border guards or police.

When the Kyrgyz bill was being debated in September, MP Nurlan Torobekov (Ar-Namys Party) raised questions about who would take responsibility for the possible misdeeds of these hired guards.

Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek border guards regularly exchange fire across the borders of the Ferghana Valley, which is plagued by ethnic violence. People are often wounded and sometimes killed.

Ulan Eshmatov and Eleanora Beysehnbek Kyzy of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, Alisher Sidikov of the Uzbek Service, and Salimjon Aioubov of the Tajik Service contributed to this report