War in the reeds (Photo, Video)

By Zulfiya Bainekeeva 

Conflict between local border guards and Ak Zhaik nature reserve inspectors.Armed forces of Kazakhstan intruded the territory of “Ak Zhaik” nature reserve on the night of April 22.

Armed with machine guns  the border patrol of “Eurasia” outpost (#2016 military unit of RoK National Security Committee) demolished an entrance barrier and entered “Ak Zhaik”state nature reserve. The nature reserve employees qualify this fact as illegal invasion, but the frontier guards call the actions of their opponents as “malicious hindrance to protection of frontiers”.

This is an absolute outrage!

By the time we arrived to the absolute dark nature reserve, a conflict between a few dozens of men in uniforms was at its peak. Individual verbal clashes arising here and there threatened to grow into a fight, but they managed to maintain peace in the end.

- This is an absolute outrage! – says Kambar Dyusenov, post # 2 state inspector of fish channel, showing the broken lock on the barrier.  

Entrance sign at Ak Zhaik nature reserve about restricted access.In the nature reserve they state that frontier guards neither showed any documents, nor provided any order for entrance. They also haven’t coordinated their raid.

- On the territory of the nature reserve there are no state borders, - says the nature reserve head of science and monitoring department Alexander Ivasenko. - This is a specially protected nature reserve that has designated posts and 48 inspectors are authorized to deter illegal fishing on the territory, confiscate and hand over to state treasury the confiscated fish. Nobody is trying to challenge the work of the frontier guards, but they should do it in a lawful manner – they should inform the nature reserve management.

We have the right

Frontier guards claim that the border line goes through the 25 km wide coastal line located on Ak Zhaik nature reserve territory. They state that their presence on the territory of nature reserve is lawful, referring to Article 67, items # 4 of “The rights of border service”stating that “within boundary space the border service of RoK National Security Committee the right to be present at any locations the area (to install border posts), including the territories of specially protected nature reserves, as well as the right to move during the performance of their duties.

Poachers in nature reserve

Fish discovered in the boatsThe position of the frontier post # 2016 was stated by Berik Mukhametzhanov, the chief of administrative and legal work:

- On April 21, 2014 around 22:00hrs the border patrol headed to Ak Zhaik nature reserve where the state nature reserve employees tried to prevent them from patrolling the coastal border line that has access to the sea. Border guards accessed the territory in а forcible manner. They discovered the parked small fishing boats that had no registration plates, but contained fishing netsm as well as illegal sturgeon fishing tackles called “koloda” (decks). In one of the boats where was Ak Zhaik nature reserve inspector with an unknown person without documents,, the border guards found 154 kg of small types of fish.