Families struggle to recover from Kyrgyzstan violence

8 July 2010

When Uzbek and Kyrgyz groups fought each other, at least 300 people died, nearly 400,000 people fled their homes, and many more lost everything they had. In the city of Osh, almost 2,000 homes have been burnt and many more damaged, and people fled to live with host families or friends.

Even though daily life has started with markets and shops opening again, inhabitants are still scared to leave their neighbourhoods and to go back to work. Street barricades are still visible in many quarters of Osh and mistrust between the two groups is very high. “I don’t believe in anything anymore”, says 87-year-old Sharapakhan Adamalieva.

“I have lost my shop. It was burnt. What shall I do now? I have no one to support me.” The grandmother of 30 grandchildren starts crying. “I am scared. My whole life has turned upside down.”

She sits together with three women in a shaded courtyard. One women hugs Sharapakhan Adamalieva calmly while she speaks. All four have sheltered relatives and friends in their homes.

Sixty-year-old Abulfazieva Aigul hosts five relatives, among them Ilias, a small boy in a red T-shirt. “When school starts again in September, I won’t be able to go”, the 11-year-old says. “My house has been burnt. I have no school books and no school materials.”

CARE, which did not have operations in Kyrgyzstan before the violence broke out, sent a small assessment team to help support other agencies already working in the country and provided water purification tablets to a partner organization for distribution to affected families in Osh.

While the most urgent humanitarian needs are being met and many people have returned home, it will take time for people to move on and rebuild. “We are scared, we don’t trust anymore,” says Abulfazieva Aigul. “How can we find peace again?"