The recent border conflict between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which occurred on April 28-29 this year, had a negative impact on the lives of ordinary citizens on both sides of the border. Those who did business together, who provided or received services in neighboring countries suffered. Residents hope that the difficulties will tide over and neighbors will be able to visit each other again.
Residents of Kyrgyzstan expressed their opinion in the article Lost Connections between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Trading in a “force-majeure situation”
Shuaybiddin Todzhiev has been running a grocery store for more than 10 years, which is located in the center of the Tajik border village of Khoja Alo. The border conflict had a strong impact on his business, compared to a few months earlier the trade turnover dropped significantly.
Todzhiev’s shop is located in the center of the village by the highway, and residents of nearby villages in Kyrgyzstan constituted a significant part of its clientele. But after the April events and the closure of the border, Kyrgyz citizens stopped shopping at the store, which led to a significant drop in sales volume. Now the main buyers are local residents.
Ashurboy Sanginov, a small business owner in the village that sells construction materials, says that the Kyrgyz used to buy mostly cement from him.
Before the conflict, building materials were imported through Kyrgyzstan, but now, after the border is closed, they pass through customs in the Spitamen region (over the border of neighboring Uzbekistan). According to Sanginov, despite the fact that it is more expensive, it is still “safer”.
“In Tajikistan, food is cheaper and therefore part of the border population of Kyrgyzstan preferred to buy it from us”, says Sanginov.
A vendor from Isfara, who wished to remain anonymous, is exporting dried fruits through Kyrgyzstan to Russia. He told the analytical portal CABAR.asia that the closure of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border led to a “force majeure situation”.
“This year we had plans to export dried fruits to Russia and expand our business. I signed a new cooperation agreement with a friend from Kyrgyzstan and we were going to export fruits together. However, these border conflicts and road closures harmed our operations. We do not know what to do now”, said our interlocutor.
The entrepreneur says that there were some problems in the past too, when conflicts were happening. But back then the borders were not completely closed and they had the opportunity to export goods.
The Tajik businessman said his partners are still willing to continue working with him.
“But when the borders are completely closed, we don’t even know what to do. In any case, we hope that in the near future the issue of opening the borders will be discussed, and the officials of the two countries will consider this opportunity. Because, besides me, most of Isfara’s population is engaged in the export of fruits and dried fruits, and most of it passes through Kyrgyzstan. Many make a living this way”, said our interlocutor.
“When the doctor is around, but you can’t visit him …”
Residents of both countries on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border not only bought goods from each other’s shops, but also used the medical services of their neighbors. This practice has now ceased.
One of the nurses in the village of Khoja Alo, near the Kyrgyz village of Ushteppa, says that after border clashes, Kyrgyz citizens do not visit them for treatment, and Tajiks are also not allowed to cross the border.
“They used to come over, our doctors examined them, made diagnoses, and we treated them. Until the last conflict, they called us to their home. Especially in the summer, when all the women of Batken region went to work on the fields, their population was forced to use the services of Tajik doctors and nurses”, said the interlocutor.
She said that Kyrgyz families live five or six houses from her house, and now, these families have to go for medical assistance to the regional center of Batken bypassing several kilometers.
“We are familiar with two nurses of one of the polyclinics in Batken region, we were even friends, and went to visit each other. Sometimes they brought their patients to us and asked our doctors for advice. But I haven’t seen them in months”, the nurse said.
Our interlocutor also said that a dentist from neighboring Kyrgyzstan recently opened a clinic near the border, and many residents from the Tajik side used to come to see him, but after the conflict they stopped visiting him.
According to the nurse, all ordinary citizens have suffered because of the conflict.
“It was awful! Nobody slept for five days and nights. Better reach an agreement in a peaceful way, so that this does not happen again”, says the nurse.
To school – to Tajikistan
Mukhammadiso Zarkhorov was born in the city of Khaidarkand, Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, but he is now a second-year student at the Faculty of Journalism of the Tajik National University on an interstate quota.
Bad rumors are also spreading in our city of Khaidarkand. Everyday I’ve been reached out on the phone by peoplefrom home and asked if anyone offends me. After I explained that everything was fine with me, my family calmed more or less down. Most of all my relatives worried that after the conflict the borders would be closed and I would stay in Tajikistan for a long time. It is good that there were no nationalist sentiments in Dushanbe, Khujand and in the places where the Kyrgyz live”, he said.
Zarkhorov believes that now it is necessary to sponsor more co-operative activities, festivals for young people living in the border area of both countries in order to improve relations between the countries and overcome misunderstandings and discontentment.
He said that on June 6 he went to Kyrgyzstan from Dushanbe and had no problems crossing the border.
“My relatives are trying to persuade me to transfer to Kyrgyzstan, but I’m going to continue my studies in Tajikistan. I hope that it will be possible”, says Mukhammadiso Zarkhorov.