Kyrgyzstan Bans Cremation of Dead Bodies

Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov signed a law prohibiting the cremation of deceased bodies, according to data from his official website.

Consensus

The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, signed a law banning cremation of deceased individuals.
The law amends the 'Law on Burial and Funeral Affairs'.
Crematoria may only be used for sanitary thermal destruction of medical biological materials.
Cremation of deceased persons, aborted fetuses, and stillborn infants is prohibited.
The law prohibits burial or interment of urns containing ashes.
The law comes into effect 10 days after official publication.
The purpose of the law is to distinguish ritual practices from sanitary medical procedures.

Cremation of deceased was previously allowed in Kyrgyzstan in 2024, but no crematoriums existed in the country. — kommersant
A crematorium was built in Almaty in 2026, the only such facility in Central Asia. — kommersant
Kyrgyz authorities had proposed delaying the introduction of cremation regulations until 2040 due to lack of infrastructure and need for deeper analysis. — kommersant
The law comes into force on August 14. — vedomosti
The law is intended to prevent the use of apartments for burials, referencing a similar move in China. — m24
China plans to ban burying the dead in vacant apartments due to high funeral costs and rising urbanization. — m24
China introduced a ban on burying ashes in vacant apartments in March. — vedomosti
Average funeral costs in China are around 37,375 yuan (5,400 USD), second highest in the world after Japan. — m24