Just a very quick one today. Upon arrival in Kazakhstan (at least in Astana airport), all visitors have to proceed through an x-ray machine, after collecting their luggage, just before they enter the arrivals area, and can hop into a car. However, this section is also useful for telling which foreigners have been to this glorious republic before… Anyone who has spent at least some time over here will often follow the lead of many locals, and simply elect to walk straight past the machines and out the door. Only once has a guy in uniform convinced me that I can not leave until I’ve waited in yet another queue and had my bags checked over again. A couple of times someone will make a small amount of noise, but if you just keep walking and assume they must be talking to someone else, nothing ever happens.
If this was on the way INTO the airport, before departing on a flight, I would be more concerned, and most likely follow the procedure, however, as I’ve most likely been through security checkpoints several times that day, and not about to get onto a plane, but into a private car, I can’t see the point. To have people in uniforms, with machines ready to scan your luggage, which most passengers then blatantly ignore does not do much for the security reassurance that I suppose these machines are there for. They certainly can’t be there as a real method of ensuring nothing dodgy enters the country.
So, airport security when leaving the airport… x-ray machines shouldn’t be voluntary, but thanks anyway…