EurasiaNet Civil Society - Tashkent Mayor: “Non-Official” Residents Threat to Security

CIVIL SOCIETY

TASHKENT MAYOR: "NON-OFFICIAL" RESIDENTS THREAT TO SECURITY
Esmer Islamov and Kamol Kholmuradov 10/27/04

Citing a desire to prevent possible terror attacks, the mayor of Tashkent ordered city residents without official residence permits to be dismissed from their jobs and expelled from the Uzbek capital. Since the order took effect, thousands of people have been forced out of the capital, including hundreds of highly trained specialists, sources within the mayor’s office and the Tashkent police tell EurasiaNet.

Mayor Rustam Shoabdurakhmanov issued order number P-043 on July 25, less than a week before the July 30 bomb attacks on the Israeli and US embassies, along with the Uzbek Prosecutor General’s office, that left five people dead, the sources say. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. News of the ruling was kept under wraps, with the order’s contents passed on verbally to the rank-and-file members of the police and makhallas, or government-controlled neighborhood councils. Tashkent’s Department of Internal Affairs later used this ruling as the basis for a "chistka," or clean-up operation, that began several days after the July bomb blasts and targeted residents without official residency permits, or propiskas.

So far, more than 3,700 people have been expelled under the order, according to Tashkent police and government sources. Roughly 1,300 people, including highly qualified physicians, zoologists, teachers, and specialists in other fields, are said to have lost their jobs because of the ruling. That number is expected to increase in the coming months. Though the city counts some 2.5 million registered residents, Tashkent’s actual population is believed to be upwards of 3.5 million people.

To justify the order, government officials like Batyr Alimukhamedov, deputy minister of labor and social welfare, cite the capital city’s "special status" and the need to guard against terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic radicals. Militants have struck Tashkent twice this year, leaving scores dead. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The propiska system is a holdover from the Soviet era. Residency permits were introduced by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as a way to control labor migration, specifically to stem the rapid influx of peasants into cities. The system has long been assailed in the West as a human rights violation. On October 7, US Ambassador Larry Napper, the head of the American delegation to the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, condemned the propiska system, saying it "can . . . lead to corruption and abuse."

Rural Uzbeks who come to Tashkent in search of work often pay a significant portion of their earnings in bribes to the police and various government officials to be allowed to live in the capital. Temporary residence permits can be purchased for $40-$70. A permanent propiska for Tashkent requires greater resources, anywhere from $300 to $1,000, or roughly 25 to 75 percent of an Uzbek’s average annual income.

Uzbek labor law dictates that a minimum two-month salary be paid in cases of job termination, but no payment is known to have been made to employees dismissed under the mayor’s order. Those who have lost their jobs hold out little hope of obtaining assistance from Uzbekistan’s judicial system. "The court will not work," said Odil and Saida, a married couple who asked that only their first names be used. "Everything is against you if you do not have the propiska. The courts work hand in hand with the government and the police."

"If we sue, we will lose even the remainders of what we have," said another resident who preferred to remain anonymous. "It will not work, unless we unite and turn to a trade union for help …" But so far, the National Council of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan shows little inclination to address the issue. Contacted for comment on the mayor’s ruling and the non-payment of severance wages, a council representative responded that "it is an internal issue of the employers; no labor laws were violated."

Editor’s Note: Esmer Islamov is the pseudonym of a freelance journalist specializing in Uzbek political affairs. Kamol Kholmuradov is a freelance journalist based in Uzbekistan.

The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Open Society Institute and are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.