Turkmenistan: US Will Keep Pressing Ashgabat on Refusnik Students

The US Embassy in Ashgabat says it welcomes the government of Turkmenistan's decision to permit State Department-funded students to continue their studies in Bulgaria

Last summer hundreds of study-abroad students were abruptly barred from leaving Turkmenistan. The students, who were previously enrolled with the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, were subjected to a blanket travel ban after the Turkmen government blacklisted the institution. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

So far, Turkmen officials appear to have reversed the ban only for students studying under the auspices of the Turkmen American Scholarship Program (TASP). William Stevens, a spokesman for the US Embassy in Ashgabat, told EurasiaNet that efforts would be made to secure freedom of movement for other students still unable to leave the country.

"We welcome the news that the Government of Turkmenistan recently allowed participants in the US-government funded Turkmen American Scholarship Program to exit Turkmenistan to continue their studies at the American University in Bulgaria," he said on January 28. "It is true that participants in the TASP were able to leave, but unfortunately, the Government of Turkmenistan continues to deny freedom of movement to many privately-funded Turkmen students and others. We will continue to raise this and other human rights issues with the Turkmenistan government. As recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to leave his or her country and to return to his or her country," he added.