Displaced Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan Face Difficult Living Conditions

Over 530 Uzbeks, including 96 women and 21 children, are living in tents provided by Kyrgyz authorities just a couple hundred yards from the Uzbek border, along the Kara Darya River in the Suzak region of Jalal-Abad province. Up to 700 additional Uzbek citizens have reportedly found refuge in Uzgen, a town in Osh province, while several hundred more are being housed by friends and relatives across the Osh and Jalal-abad provinces. Both Kyrgyz regions have large Uzbek communities. Meanwhile, several displaced Uzbeks with gunshot wounds have been admitted to Kyrgyz hospitals. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A number of international organizations, including UNHCR and ACTED, are engaged in relief efforts to improve living conditions for displaced Uzbeks. Local Kyrgyzstani NGOs are also involved in this process.

Kyrgyz media outlets reported May 18 that the Kyrgyz authorities agreed to return 15 Uzbek nationals to Uzbekistan, prompting an outcry from Kyrgyz human rights organizations.

The Uzbek government is pressing for the return of all displaced Uzbeks, many of whom have publicly expressed fear about returning home, citing the threat of retribution. But Bakiyev indicated that the Kyrgyz provisional government is inclined to comply with Tashkent's wishes.

"Kyrgyzstan has provided necessary assistance to over 1,500 people who crossed the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border," the AKIpress news agency quoted Bakiyev as telling journalists on May 18. "But when the situation in Uzbekistan has stabilized they ought to return."