BISHKEK -- Kazakh authorities have stopped allowing Kyrgyz citizens of Uzbek origin to enter Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Cholponbek Turusbekov, deputy chairman of the Kyrgyz Border Guard Service, told RFE/RL that although Kazakh border guards recently set up additional checkpoints along the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, Kyrgyz citizens of Uzbek ethnicity are not allowed to enter Kazakhstan.
It is not clear when the prohibition on ethnic Uzbeks with Kyrgyz passports came into force.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have fled southern Kyrgyzstan amid violent clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh and Jalal-Abad regions in the past week.
On June 14, Kazakh Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Bozhko announced that Kazakhstan is ready to accept refugees from the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan.
Cholponbek Turusbekov, deputy chairman of the Kyrgyz Border Guard Service, told RFE/RL that although Kazakh border guards recently set up additional checkpoints along the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, Kyrgyz citizens of Uzbek ethnicity are not allowed to enter Kazakhstan.
It is not clear when the prohibition on ethnic Uzbeks with Kyrgyz passports came into force.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have fled southern Kyrgyzstan amid violent clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh and Jalal-Abad regions in the past week.
On June 14, Kazakh Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Bozhko announced that Kazakhstan is ready to accept refugees from the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan.
