9 July 2020

Some 2,000 Uzbek migrant workers stranded in Kazakhstan for weeks have been allowed to enter Uzbekistan.

The governor of Kazakhstan’s southern Saryaghash district, Mukhit Otarshiev, told RFE/RL on July 9 that the migrants left the Zhibek Zholy (Silk Road) checkpoint at the Kazakh-Uzbek border overnight.

Otarshiev added that, by the evening of July 8, the number of Uzbek migrant workers gathered at the checkpoint had reached 3,400, of whom some 2,000 were now on their way home.

"Today, 500 more Uzbek nationals will leave the site and travel back to Uzbekistan. Uzbek Embassy officials promised us that by the end of the day today, the remaining Uzbek citizens will be allowed to enter Uzbekistan," Otarshiev said.