This past week, the media paid attention to the repatriation of Kazakhstani citizens who were evacuated from the Gaza Strip, while about 130 Kazakhstanis departed from Gaza this week for Egypt and Almaty. Also in the news where Prime Minister Smailov’s effort to encourage foreign investment by $150 billion by 2029 at an investor summit in Astana, Kyrgyzstan’s President visiting Japan in an effort to strengthen economic, political, and investment ties, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s bilateral efforts to resolve border disputes between the two countries, and the statement from Pakistani authorities that all Afghanistani refugees within the country will be deported by the end of the month.

Kazakhstan’s government carried out the evacuation of 221 citizens from the Gaza Strip to Almaty and Egypt this week. At the beginning of the week, Kazakhstan announced through cooperation with authorities in Jordan, Egypt and Israel that the first group of 40 citizens were flown out of the region back to Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan Today). Throughout the week, a further 99 citizens were repatriated from the Middle East back to Kazakhstan (Astana Times). However, more citizens remain within the Gaza Strip. Of those that remain, 122 were placed on a list granting them permission to cross the Rafah border crossing on the border with Egypt in southern Gaza. The Foreign Ministry has stated that once the remaining citizens arrive in Cairo, further flights will be chartered to repatriate the remaining citizens back to Kazakhstan (Kursiv).

Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Smailov hosted the sixth annual Kazakhstan Global Investment Roundtable, seeking to attract $150 billion in investments from foreign business leaders and global financial institutions to do business in Kazakhstan (Kazinform). The Prime Minister made the case to investors that Kazakhstan is investing heavily in infrastructure development and the country’s regulatory environment to improve the climate for foreign investors in the country – including in the tech and energy extractive industries (Kazakhstan Newsline). This effort at the ‘strategic development’ of the country’s economy is aligned with President Tokayev’s initiative to modernize and double the economy by 2029, with the ultimate goal of achieving a GDP of $450 billion (Astana Times).

Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov arrived in Japan on a state visit along with his wife. Over the course of the visit, the president met with the Japanese royal family and officials from the Japanese government in Tokyo and Kyoto (24.kg). The president also met with the leaders of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation – a major reason for his visit to Japan was highlighted by an effort to encourage Japanese investment into critical infrastructure and development programs in Kyrgyzstan (AkiPress). As part of the visit to Japan, President Japarov further sought to improve bilateral cooperation with Japan on the global stage, noted by the signing of a series of bilateral agreements between both countries (AkiPress).

Leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan held a series of talks to resolve a border dispute between the two states that led to clashes between the two countries’ militaries in 2022. Working group meetings were held in the border city of Batken over six days to resolve the actual delineation of problem areas in the border, herein a protocol was signed between the two states that they will mutually seek an end to the disputes (Kyrgyzstan Newsline). These talks will be followed up by further meetings to be held in Tajikistan the following year (24.kg). The meeting dovetailed with further efforts to augment the border posts at the Kairagach, Kara-Myk and Bor-Dobo crossings, where the posts’ customs infrastructure has undergone a modernization effort through an initiative from the Eurasian Economic Union (24.kg).

In other news, Pakistan announced this week that all citizens of Afghanistan in the country will be evicted by the beginning of January 2024, increasing pressure on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border which has already experienced the deportation of hundreds of thousands of migrants over the past months (Pajhwok). Both the international community and civil society organizations, including women’s groups, within  Pakistan have reacted negatively to this planned expulsion of migrants, calling on Pakistan to delay their expulsion and improve the treatment of the migrants within the state’s borders (Pajhwok). Another group within Pakistan, the Joint Action Committee for Refugees stated that deported citizens of Afghanistan were likely to be faced with harassment by Pakistani police and law enforcement as they make the forced crossing back to their country of origin (Tolo News). These calls come as Pakistani civil groups are becoming more aware of the conditions faced by migrants as they cross the border and the realization that Taliban officials are underequipped to deal with the flux of migrants – which on November 19 - reached 4,602 migrants arriving back into Afghanistan on a single day (Ariana News).