Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia will share their citizen’s personal data with each other for law enforcement purposes, the press service of Kyrgyzstan’s presidential office announced Wednesday.
Under the agreement, each country will share information on the residence status, citizenship, migration registration, visas, property, criminal records and identity documents of individuals living within their borders.
“Today we received notifications from the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation regarding the completion of the necessary procedures for the agreement to come into effect,” the Kyrgyz presidential office said.
The agreement will enter into force on July 21, or 30 days after Kyrgyzstan’s ratification.
The data transfer was authorized under a mutual legal assistance agreement signed by the three countries in December 2020.
Russia and Kazakhstan ratified the agreement in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Kyrgyzstan’s ratification of the data-sharing agreement raises questions over the safety of the tens of thousands of Russian nationals who sought refuge in the two Central Asian states following the invasion of Ukraine, either in opposition to the war or in fear of being mobilized.
Earlier this month, Kyrgyzstan launched a facial-recognition system that local law enforcement agencies use to search for individuals wanted in Commonwealth of Independent States member countries.
The 24.kg news website, citing the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry, reported that Russian security forces have shared data on over 85,000 internationally wanted individuals with Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan this month deported Alexei Rozhkov, a Russian anti-war activist who was wanted in his home country for setting fire to a military enlistment office in March 2022 to protest the invasion of Ukraine. He is currently in pre-trial detention in Russia.
In September 2022, a Russian journalist who was wanted on charges of “discrediting” the Russian military was detained in Kazakhstan.
