www.eurasianet.org
Aripov also added that the border will be closed on June 14 because of the huge number of influx of refugees.According to CNN, about 80,000 Uzbeks have fled Kyrgyzstan, and International Committee of the Red Cross official described the situation as a "humanitarian catastrophe".
www.eurasianet.org
Russian news agency RIA-Novosti also reported that members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, met today and discussed the crisis. The result of the discussion was to provide emergency aid to Kyrgyzstan to quell the violence.1. CNN reporter's coverage from Kyrgyzstan - http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/14/kyrgyz.violence/index.html
2. Danish Journalist's view of the conflict - http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2640
3. Eyewitness recounts of the tragedy (in Russian, but can be translated using Google Chrome or other Web translation service) - http://www.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=6610
Nonprofits are striving to aid in this crisis!
ReplyDeleteInternational Medical Corps Responding to Refugee Crisis at Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Border
LOS ANGELES, CA, June 15, 2010
International Medical Corps is preparing to respond to the refugee crisis on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as an estimated 80,000 ethnic Uzbeks – many of them women and children and many suffering gunshot wounds - have fled violence and poured into makeshift refugee camps.
“We are extremely concerned that tens of thousands of people are in desperate need of medical care, in addition to basics such as food and clean water,” said Malika Mirkhanova, International Medical Corps Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East, who is on the ground in Uzbekistan assessing the situation. “There are already reports of dysentery spreading among children in the camps. The Uzbek government is struggling to address the needs but has been overwhelmed by the enormous population influx. The greatest need right now is for food items, hygiene kits and medical supplies.”
While the official death toll stands at 125, with nearly 1,500 wounded, relief workers estimate that many hundreds have been killed.
Thus far, only the International Committee for the Red Cross and UN agencies have been permitted access to the Feghana Valley, as all borders to Kyrgyzstan have been closed.
Since its founding in 1984, International Medical Corps has delivered more than $1 billion in of emergency relief and health care services to devastated population in 50 countries, including during the Rwandan genocide, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the earthquake in Haiti.
Since its inception more than 25 years ago, International Medical Corps’ mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster, and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit: www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org