Kazakhstan has lifted restrictions at its land borders with Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, ending unprecedented curbs on nonessential travelers in place since March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The restrictions were lifted as of April 11 for Kazakh and foreign citizens, as well as for individuals without citizenship, for crossing Kazakhstan’s state border with these three countries, authorities said.
The decision was taken by Kazakhstan’s state agency for the prevention of the coronavirus on April 6.
The reopening of land border crossings is welcome news for millions of migrant workers from Central Asia who travel to Russia for seasonal work. When the restrictions were in place, the migrants had to pay for costly air tickets to travel to Russia.
Russia lifted coronavirus-related restrictions at its land border crossings with Kazakhstan as of March 30.
