Plight of ethnic Tajik IDPs in the south neglected, says NGO activist

The leader of a Tajik cultural organisation has told IRIN that the plight of ethnic Tajik Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in southern Uzbekistan was being neglected by the international community. "There is a genocide [taking place] because their rights are being abused. They are treated like animals; [indeed] even animals are not treated like that. Therefore, we want this information to be conveyed to President Islam Karimov in order that the problem be solved," Alijon Muhammad, head of Varorud, a Dushanbe-based NGO which works for the cultural rights of ethnic Tajiks in Uzbekistan, told IRIN. "They were driven out of their homes like cattle in August 2000. More than 5,000 people were displaced. There were deaths. They have been harassed and abused for a long time. Furthermore, some 200 people were arrested with some 70 to 80 being arrested on alleged charges of terrorism," Muhammad said. According to the Geneva-based Global Internally Displaced Persons Project (GIDPP), initiated by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), approximately 3,500 people, mostly ethnic Tajiks, were displaced by the Uzbek government through the evacuation of some 22 villages in the southern Sukhandarya province along the border with Tajikistan. The evacuation was prompted by armed incursions of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) from Tajikistan in summer 2000. The government declared the area a closed military zone. Villagers were moved to relocation settlements, where they were expected to cultivate the land and rebuild their lives on their own. "I have been appealing to various international organisations, including the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) since 2001, but haven't got a clear answer yet," Muhammad maintained. "We talk about democracy and human rights all over the world but when these international bodies don't take any action, whom should these people rely on? Whom should they appeal to?" he asked IRIN despairingly. Since their relocation, the displaced communities have been left without adequate humanitarian assistance and protection by the state authorities, GIDPP said in its recent report. In several villages, shelters have fallen apart and become uninhabitable. Access to drinking water is also lacking in several locations, while food shortages have been reported, especially in Sherabad district, where IDPs have been living in extreme poverty. But the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied these claims. "They are being provided with assistance. Perhaps they want more, but it is not always possible. Regional authorities, supported by the [central] government, are dealing with their socioeconomic problems," Ilkhom Zakirov, spokesman for the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, told IRIN from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. Issues such as unemployment, social security and the health of the relocated villagers were being tackled, he added. He said relocated people, particularly those living in Sherabad district, had no problems with drinking water. "Due to repairs and the replacement of old worn-out water pumps, supplies of drinking water were temporarily suspended in April and July 2003. Villagers didn't need to use water from canals or other unsuitable sources as underground drinking water sources are available," the government official said. Some IDPs were relocated to desert-like lands with high salinity, making it virtually impossible to cultivate crops, IRIN learnt in December 2003. "In many places where they live now there is a lack of clean drinking water. There are no [proper] conditions for living there. However, the Uzbek authorities turn a blind eye, although many people know about this problem. When lawyers and relatives of the IDPs approached law-enforcement bodies, some officials told them that it was an order from above," Muhammad said. Meanwhile, most of the IDPs want to return to their homes. "They want to return home and get their compensation as the government had promised them. But they received nothing. They want their relatives who were illegally arrested to be discharged, and [compensation for] moral and physical damage that they had faced to be paid," the NGO activist said. However, the authorities say that no such appeals have been made. "Neither authorities on the ground nor in Tashkent have received any appeals from the people who were relocated four years ago to move them back or to any other place," Zakirov said.