Photo: sputniknews.uz
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the country’s citizens are under state protection regardless of where they reside. The ministry called on compatriots abroad to contact Uzbek diplomatic missions if their rights and freedoms are violated, according to a statement published on the Telegram channel of Foreign Minister spokesman Akhror Burkhanov.
He specified that Uzbekistan protects its citizens on the basis of the Constitution, national legislation, and international law.
“In the event of violations of the rights, freedoms, legitimate interests, or dignity of citizens abroad, they must immediately contact the competent law enforcement authorities of the host country. Citizens may also apply to Uzbekistan’s diplomatic or consular missions for legal and consular assistance,” the ministry representative wrote.
Burkhanov stressed that protecting Uzbeks living abroad is an important priority of the republic’s state policy.
The ministry’s statement followed a high-profile incident in the Moscow suburb of Khimki. Several days earlier, a video circulated online showing a man insulting a taxi driver of Asian appearance, telling him he was a “slave of Russians.”
“In Uzbekistan you found nothing, so you came here. You are not at home: you came to work — then work,” the man shouted at the driver, using profane language. The taxi driver, asking his interlocutor to calm down, eventually got behind the wheel and drove away. Witnesses claimed the dispute began after the taxi briefly blocked the road while waiting for a garbage truck to pass on a narrow street.
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry did not explicitly link its statement to the video. However, in response to a request from Gazeta.uz, the ministry confirmed that Burkhanov’s post referred to all compatriots abroad and was also a reaction to the taxi driver case in Khimki. At the same time, diplomats noted that they had not yet received any official complaints regarding the incident.
