A journalistic investigation revealed that corruption exists at Tajik-Uzbek border posts, and residents’ complaints about bribery by Tajik border guards are not groundless.
Collage: CABAR.asia
Tajik authorities have also partially admitted corruption at some border posts and stated that the perpetrators have already been brought to justice.
There are 16 border crossings between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and until 2018 there were only two border posts open – Fotehobod and Dusti ones, but most people cross three points: Fotehobod, Dusti, and Sarazm. This year, corruption at border crossings has caused great concern and even protests from residents.
At the end of March 2020, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, all border crossings between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were closed by a decision of the Republican Center for prevention of the spreading of COVID-19, and no official announcement of the opening of the border crossings has yet been made.
From protesting residents to firing the border checkpoint staff
Reports of corruption and extortion of residents at border crossings with Uzbekistan appeared on social media and in the mass media last July.
In the summer of 2021, hundreds of people tried to travel from Tajikistan to Uzbekistan through the land border crossings to get cheaper airfare from Uzbekistan to Russia. However, crossing the border was not easy for the residents. In July 2021, a group of residents complained to the Tajik service of Radio Ozodi about bribery at the Fotehobod-Oybek checkpoint.
In August 2021, the Sughd Region anti-corruption agency confirmed allegations of bribery at the Fotehobod border crossing point in northern Tajikistan but said it did not investigate the complaint due to its anonymity. However, despite the fact that authorities did not confirm corruption at the Fotehobod-Oybek checkpoint in Mastchoh District, the head of the border post and his deputies were fired on August 9, 2021.
On August 4, 2021, a group of residents of the northern Tajik city of Panjakent held a protest in front of the city administration building because they could not cross into Uzbekistan.
After the protests, the residents were allowed to enter Uzbekistan through the Sarazm border crossing point in the town of Panjakent. Authorities in Panjakent stated that the reason for the protest was that residents had purchased air tickets to Russia, and they would have been “expired”. But relatives of some of the protesters told Radio Ozodi that “the issue of expiring tickets is an inappropriate explanation from the authorities.” In fact, according to them, the visit of their relatives became possible after they gave to the border patrol their “slice of the cake”.
At the end of October 2021, the issue of corruption at the Fotehobod-Oybek border checkpoint was brought up again. In October, a correspondent of Kun.uz was crossing the Fotehobod-Oybek border checkpoint and witnessed how a doctor at the checkpoint took money from him and put it in his pocket. This incident was recorded on video and posted on the website. But Abdulhamid Ibrohimov, the doctor at the Mastchoh District clinic whom the Uzbek journalist accused of taking a bribe, told Radio Ozodi that he “did not ask the passengers to pay for crossing the border”. Authorities did not initiate a case against Ibrohimov but expelled him from the list of doctors on duty at the Fotehobod border crossing.
“Dusti border crossing point – you pay 100 somoni – you go”.
On November 13, 2021, we went to the Dusti border crossing in the town of Tursunzoda, 65 km west of Dushanbe, to clarify the situation.
We tried to cross the border as ordinary citizens. At the first entrance to the checkpoint, the officer took my passport and wrote on a piece of paper #14 100 telling me to pay 100 somonis (about $9 USD) at the stamping place. Without saying a word, I walked to the last point where my passport was stamped. There were long lines, with more than 50 citizens of both countries waiting in line to cross the border. While waiting their turn, at least five citizens of Tajikistan told me that they were also told to pay 100 somonis (about $9) at the entrance.
There were three other people in front of us who argued with two Tajik citizens. The Tajik border guards came running, took them to an office, and led them around the queue. One of the border guards recognized me during this argument and, without waiting my turn, asked his colleague to stamp my passport. He answered no to my question about whether we had to pay 100 somonis (about $9). After crossing the border, at least five Tajik citizens confirmed that the border guards demanded 100 somonis (about $9) from them.
Sarazm border crossing: either stay in the sun for hours or plunk down your money
Muminbobo Kholikov, a 70-year-old resident of the Kitab district of the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan, arrived in Tajikistan from Uzbekistan on December 6, 2021, through the Sarazm checkpoint. A CABAR.asia correspondent spotted him at the Tajik border crossing, where Kholikov said he had been waiting for an hour. We witnessed how Tajik border guards refused to let Kholikov, his nephew, and four other residents of Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh region across the border, saying the Tajik border was closed. But Kholikov, his nephew, and four other Uzbeks said that the border guards “wanted money”.
CABAR.asia’s correspondent crossed the Sarazm checkpoint and waited near the checkpoint for nearly an hour to see if Muminbobo Kholikov and his companions would eventually be allowed through. After about an hour, Kholikov and his companions crossed the border into Tajikistan. This Tajik-speaking Uzbek citizen confirmed to us in an interview that the Tajik border guards first asked him for 200,000 Uzbek sums ($18.4). The interlocutor told us that after numerous requests and payment of 100,000 Uzbek sums (about $9), the Tajik border guards allowed him to enter Tajikistan.
In the same way, four other Uzbek citizens told us that when crossing the border at the Sarazm checkpoint, the Tajik border guards took from 100,000 to 200,000 Uzbek sums ($9.2-18.4) from them.
Has the situation in Fotehobod improved?
The Fotehobod-Oybek checkpoint in Mastchoh District has been repeatedly mentioned in the media this year in connection with corruption. By order of the head of the border agency of Tajikistan, the checkpoint was closed after complaints from residents.
On November 25, 2021, when we crossed that border checkpoint, there was a long queue. We waited from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. until the border guards let us through. Apparently, the dismissal of several officials at the checkpoint improved the situation at the Fotehobod-Oybek border crossing, because no one here asked us for money.
What is the reason for demanding a bribe?
One of the main questions we tried to answer during the investigation was why corruption emerged at border crossings with Uzbekistan this year. Since the border crossings between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been open since March 2018, there have been no complaints of extortion by border guards in the first three years.
A journalistic investigation revealed that the authorities themselves, especially the Republican Headquarters for Combating the Spread of COVID-19, created the conditions for the emergence of corruption at the border crossings. The head of the duty unit at one of the border posts with Uzbekistan told CABAR.asia on condition of anonymity that in April 2020 all Tajikistan’s border posts were closed, including those with Uzbekistan, and entry and exit for ordinary citizens were prohibited.
“Based on the protocol of the Headquarters – No. 17, we received a written order to prohibit residents from crossing the border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On June 8, 2020, the decision was amended and the restrictions were relaxed slightly. Specifically, trucks were allowed to pass through. But so far we haven’t received any orders that the border is completely open and residents are free to cross it,” he said.
Authorities in Tajikistan, including the Headquarters for Combating the Spread of COVID-19, which is headed by Prime Minister Kohir Rasulzoda, have not yet made an official decision to open Tajikistan’s borders. The Republican Headquarters for Combating COVID-19 wrote in response to an inquiry from CABAR.asia that the Tajik-Uzbek border was open and that some restrictions on entry into that country were imposed only in response to the pandemic.
One such restriction was that citizens had to obtain permission to travel overland from Headquarters, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
CABAR.asia’s investigation revealed that this uncertainty, that is, the fact that the border was not officially open and closed, set the stage for corruption at border crossings. At least five Uzbek citizens told CABAR.asia that the main ” excuse” for taking money from them was “the absence of open borders.
Muminbobo Kholikov, a resident of Uzbekistan’s Kitab district, said they were required to bring a permit. “Of course, we don’t have any permits, and we are forced to give them their requested fee and pass,” Kholikov said.
After crossing the Fotehobod-Oybek checkpoint, the Kun.uz correspondent wrote that the Tajik border guards chose a simple but nerve-racking method of making them wait for a long time. “As a result, a person crossing the border has no choice but to talk to border guards and pay them the necessary amount,” written in the publication.
But the difficulty is not only for citizens of Uzbekistan. At the Dusti crossing point in Tursunzoda, a CABAR.asia correspondent witnessed that citizens of Tajikistan were required to obtain permission from the Foreign Ministry in order to cross the border. Naturally, none of the residents at the checkpoint had such permission and were forced to pay bribes to officials to cross the border.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, in response to a request from CABAR.asia, confirmed that citizens must obtain such a document to enter Uzbekistan.
“Citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan must apply to the Republican Republican Headquarters for Combating the Spread of COVID-19 disease through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain permission to enter the Republic of Uzbekistan by land,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its response.
At the three main checkpoints between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Dusti, Fotehobod, and Sarazm), the official notice boards say nothing about this requirement.
Why is it difficult to prove corruption at checkpoints?
Some Tajik authorities have admitted the existence of corruption at border crossings with Uzbekistan, but they did not go into details. In response to our journalists’ inquiry, Tajikistan’s Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption wrote that it had uncovered corruption at the Dusti checkpoint and that the person responsible had been punished. However, despite our specific request, the agency did not disclose details of the case.
The border troops deny the existence of any corruption at border crossings, particularly at the Fotehobod-Oybek and Sarazm checkpoints.
The commander of the Border Troops, Rajabali Rakhmonali, wrote in an official letter to us that information from the media and the Internet about the activities of border checkpoints at Fotehobod-Oybek and Sarazm on extortion was not confirmed. “No photos or videos of bribery or extortion were offered. No cases of corruption on the part of the SCNS border troops in these areas have been recorded,” Rakhmonali said in his response.
But a CABAR.asia journalistic investigation showed that it is very difficult to prove corruption at border checkpoints. Authorities strictly control the use of cell phones at checkpoints and do not allow anyone to talk on the phone. It is also written at the entrance to the checkpoint that no photos, videos, or sound recordings can be taken.
At the Uzbek border crossing, they don’t ask for a “slice of cake.” On the other side, they charge between 100 and 140 thousand Uzbek sums ($9.2-12.9) for a coronavirus test. A receipt is issued for that amount.
What can be done?
Nurali Ashurov, an economic analyst, believes that Uzbekistan’s experience should be used to eradicate corruption at border crossings.
Another task, according to Nurali Ashurov, is the anti-corruption agency to tighten control at border crossings, including the introduction of trust numbers.