Call for International Conference for Peace to be held in Kyrgyzs

“Refugees mass along Uzbek border

 

Tens of thousands of people from southern Kyrgyzstan are seeking safety in neighbouring Uzbekistan, fleeing violence that has killed 138 people.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said more than 75,000 people had crossed the border, while thousands of others were reportedly waiting on the Kyrgyz side.

Yves Giovannoni, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Central Asia, told Al Jazeera that most of those who had entered Uzbekistan were in makeshift camps.

"Some have relatives in Uzbekistan and can stay with them but most are in makeshift camps - parking lots, schools, industrial plants - and they urgently need support from the Uzbekistan authorities and international community," he said. 

Most of the fleeing were ethnic Uzbeks, but there were also reports of Tajiks flocking to the border.

Official figures said nearly 1,800 people had been injured since the unrest started in the city of Osh on Tuesday, with mobs of Kyrgyz men attacking ethnic Uzbeks and torching their houses.”