Kyrgyzstan resettlement of Uzbekistan enclave gets mixed reviews

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN — While Kyrgyz state media have portrayed the recent resettlement of residents of a Kyrgyz enclave in Uzbekistan in glowing terms, a different picture emerged during a VOA visit to the residents’ new home. At issue is Barak, a Kyrgyz hamlet of less than 1,000 inhabitants in Uzbekistan that was moved in April as part of a border deal with Uzbekistan. Barak is one of a number of parcels of land shared by Soviet Central Asian republics that, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, became problematic.