Growing refugee crisis in Kyrgyzstan

Friday 18 June 2010

Those who made it across the Uzbek border are living in makeshift camps. Women and children form the majority of refugees — they need access to food and other aid as they have left with very few possessions.

Families are separated in the shelters - women and children in some shelters and men in other places. There is an adequate supply of bedding for the time being, but use and winter will make replacements necessary.

The sanitary situation is deteriorating. The city water supply seems adequate. However toilets are overwhelmed and there are no hand washing stations or other measures at the ad hoc shelters. Diarrhea among children is a common complaint at the larger centers and in the neighborhoods in general. 

Southern Kyrgyzstan has experienced escalating violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek populations since the government in Bishkek was overthrown on 7 April and an interim government took power.

“People remain afraid to venture far from their front doors and streets or out of their neighborhoods", reports Will Lynch, Save the Children's Kyrgyzstan Country Director. "Traffic has picked up in Osh. There are a few more people on the streets, but the dead calm follows many episodes of civil unrest continues.”

What we’re doing

A Save the Children team is on the ground in Kyrgyzstan, assessing the needs of families affected in and around the city of Osh.  We are preparing to provide relief to children and families affected by the violence.  We will work to provide health services, run activities to keep children safe as well as distribute urgently needed basic supplies.

We hope to start distributing hygiene materials over the weekend or early next week. They will be assembled into 500 kits and distributed at the women’s centers during the weekend. Kits contain soap, toothbrushes, towels and sanitary napkins.

Support the Children's Emergency Fund to help us respond to emergencies quickly.