2007年VOA标准英语-Uzbekistan's Strict Border Regime Separates Uzb

By Peter Fedynsky
Kara Suu, Kyrgyzstan
29 August 2007
 

When the vast lands of the former Soviet¹ Union comprised a single nation, borders between constituent² republics did not significantly hinder trade and travel among them.  But after the Soviet collapse³ in 1991, those republics -- now independent nations -- instituted border controls, some lenient⁴, some strict.  One of the strictest separates the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan.  VOA Moscow correspondent Peter Fedynsky recently visited that frontier, and learned that it also separates Uzbeks from Uzbeks.

The Kara Suu market, Kyrgyzstan

About 50 percent of the merchants at the wholesale⁵ market in Kara Suu, Kyrgyzstan, and a similar number of residents in this southern Kyrgyz border town are Uzbeks.  Ethnic⁶ Kyrgyz make up about half of the population on the Uzbek side of the border region.

The Kara Suu market offers a myriad⁷ of imported goods. Signs on local Internet cafes indicate some of the countries that the people here do business with.  They include China, Russia, Turkey, South Korea and Pakistan. 

However, Uzbekistan -- within walking distance of the market -- is no longer a significant economic factor here. 

In 2003, Uzbek President Islam Karimov's government dismantled⁸ a bridge that crossed the Shakhrikhan-Say River between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek sides of Kara Suu.  The move was part of Uzbekistan's protectionist trade policy aimed at limiting imports.  The move not only hurt commerce on the Uzbek side of the border, but it has also impacted ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan who buy and sell imported goods in Kara Suu.

A local merchant, Odina, says she has noticed a drop in her sales of DVD players. "We don't understand the problem. We are ordinary entrepreneurs. Our business depends on people from Uzbekistan.  If there are no customers from Uzbekistan, there is no trade."

Odina sells electronics and other goods

Odina's business may pick up when a new bridge is opened to vehicular traffic.  For now, only pedestrians⁹ are permitted to cross.  The nearest vehicular crossing is 15 kilometers away.  As a result, people often cross the border illegally, and many have drowned in the process.

Alisher Saipov is an independent journalist in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh and a freelance correspondent with VOA's Uzbek Service. He says authorities in Uzbekistan have been unable to cut off the cross-border flow of ideas.

"Freedom does not seem to recognize borders.  Uzbek authorities try to control the border with the help of their Kyrgyz and Tajik colleagues,” he says. “Nonetheless, ideas here spread. I would say various ideas, including extremist ideas, democratic ideas, and also radical¹⁰ ideas."

An observation deck overlooking Kara Suu and to Uzbekistan beyond the river

In May 2005, Uzbek authorities opened fire on people in the city of Andijan under the pretext¹¹ of fighting Islamic extremism.  But international human rights organizations say hundreds of innocent people died in an indiscriminate slaughter¹².  The massacre¹³ created a wave of refugees, many of whom escaped to Kyrgyzstan.  Most have since resettled in other countries with the assistance of the U.N. High Commissioner¹⁴ for Refugees. 

The director of the UNHCR office in Osh, Mulusew Mamo, says the Karimov regime falsely accuses political opponents of various crimes. "Some of them might be involved in politics; some of them might be involved in human rights issues, which is the right of an individual to raise issues of human rights.  But that's normally interpreted by the government, I guess, as 'anti-government'."

Mamo says about 70 Andijan refugees remain in Osh.  And local activists¹⁵ say people continue to come in search of freedom. 

Kyrgyzstan, with Uzbekistan to the west

Rustam Mamazakirov is an attorney who represents Uzbeks seeking refugee status in Kyrgyzstan. "Today, those seeking refuge here are not so much tied to the events in Andijan as to the overall situation in Uzbekistan.  We know of pressure there against freedom of speech and religion.  So people seeking refuge come from all areas of Uzbekistan."

While the Uzbek government severely¹⁶ restricts ties among Uzbeks, it has not stopped them. People on both sides of the frontier find ways to continue what they say are ethnic bonds that predate any borders between them. 

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

5 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

8 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

9 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

11 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

12 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

13 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

14 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。