Uzbeks in desperate plea for aid as full horror of ethnic slaughter emerges

[Elmore Furth]

Source: The Guardian

Otunbayeva conceded that the death toll from almost a week of savage violence, in what was once central Asia's most democratically inclined country, was at least 2,000. Previously, her administration put the figure at 191, in an apparent attempt to deflect international condemnation and accusations of state involvement in ethnic cleansing.

In the past week, survivors have given the same account – that armoured personnel carriers and Kyrgyz men in military uniforms led the pogroms on Uzbek districts. It is hard to conceive how these attacks could have been carried out without the connivance of the Kyrgyz military, the police and local administration. The government, however, is turning its ire on the western media, which it accuses of one-sided reporting.

Non-governmental agencies last week estimated that the violence had displaced 400,000 people, with 100,000 in Uzbekistan, 5km from Osh. No one knows the precise figure, but, with Uzbekistan having closed the border to refugees, it is clear that this is a major humanitarian catastrophe. . .98% of the victims being Uzbek. "So far, we've got nothing – not even a pair of socks," he said. He asked Britain and the US to distribute aid urgently.

Kyrgyzstan is home to numerous nationalities – Kyrgyz and Uzbeks make up 15% of the 5.6 million population, but there are also Tajiks, Chechens, Turks, Tatars and even Volga Germans. But in its latest incarnation as a post-Soviet independent state, it has failed to build a multi-ethnic society. The army, police and government apparatus remain exclusively Kyrgyz – a source of resentment among potentially separatist-minded Uzbeks.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/20/kyrgyzstan-uzbekistan-ethnic-civil-war

[Violet_Crumble]

1. One million caught up in Kyrgyz violence, U.N. says

They include some 400,000 people left homeless after fleeing ethnic clashes in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad that erupted a week ago. Some 300,000 are displaced within Kyrgyzstan while another 100,000 people have crossed over into Uzbekistan.

"For the moment, we estimate that we will probably need to respond to the needs of more than one million people, displaced people, refugees and people in host families who have been affected by the conflict," Christiane Berthiaume, spokeswoman of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), told a news briefing.

"It is a planning figure, it could change," she said.

A U.N. emergency funding appeal, to be issued later in the day in New York, is expected to seek more than $65 million to assist 1.1 million people in Kyrgyzstan for six months, according to U.N. sources. A separate appeal for Uzbekistan is planned soon.

The conflict has had "acute and pressing humanitarian consequences" in Kyrgyzstan, including on host families who have taken in people driven from their homes, they said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65H2UR20100618?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[provis99]

2. Turkish Kirghiz killing Turkish Uzbeks out of ethnic hatred.

Makes as much sense as Germans killing Austrians out of ethnic hatred.

[Go2Peace]

4. Just to add: The tension originated from attempts by Fundamentalist Muslim Groups

to take over local governments, and sect related violence. There have been bombings and shootings that led up to this. So it is not quite as simple as a "prejudicial" clash. Imagine if fundamentalists tried to impliment Sharia law and started blowing bombs in your county? It might end up in some nasty situations.

That does not justify slaughtering innocents. But it is important to understand how things happened.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Genocide isn't merely some 'nasty situation'...

And when you say 'Imagine if fundamentalists tried to impliment Sharia law and started blowing bombs in your county? It might end up in some nasty situations.' it does sound as though yr trying to justify the genocide that's happening there...

[Go2Peace]

6. No

I am simply not. I just think we all need to understand the world around us better. Fundamentalism is a key component sparking a lot of these "ethnic" tensions in the region. We have to find ways to deal all of the issues that are driving the violence, in *addition* to reacting when it happens.

Do you think I am against intervening and stopping it or letting the people who killed the innocent Uzbeks off the hook?

[Hulk]

3. What did we do for Darfur?

...or yeah, they were black.