Uzbekistan's law on foreign undesirables

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 17 Jul 2024 by Alex Teddy

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The Uzbek Parliament will pass a law that will allow the government to ban people from entering the country who have offended Uzbekistan or deport those who have already entered. The aim of the law according to its preamble is to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uzbekistan. Any statement that causes disharmony is enough to have someone banned or deported. The law seems to be a response to some ultra nationalists in Russia claiming Uzbek land. Zakhar Prilepin is a well known irredentist politician in Russia and in 2023 he said that Uzbekistan should be annexed and all Uzbeks made to learn Russian. In fact all Uzbeks can speak Russian, even if not fluently in every case. He said 2 million Russians live in Uzbekistan so it belongs to Russia. The Uzbek government protested to Moscow about these statements. Russian opinion makers have often said that Uzbekistan is not a real country. This sort of rhetoric regarding Ukraine prefaced the 2022 war. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, Uzbekistan let in the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, which is a Russian-controlled region of Ukraine. Some Uzbek journalists were born outside the country. It is feared that they could be deported for writing anything uncongenial to the government. Uzbek journalists and campaigners who have become citizens of other countries could also be deported. Human rights organizations are worried. Foreign journalists are often denied visas if it suspected they will be critical of the government. The president is behind this bill. Parliament always passes things he proposes. President Mirziyoyev took over when his predecessor died 2016. Mirziyoyev has released some political prisoners and ...