Kazak minority abandons Uzbekistan

Unemployment, declining living standards and social injustice are driving thousands of ethnic Kazaks to abandon their homes in Uzbekistan and seek a new life in neighbouring Kazakhstan, according to the Institute of War and Peace Reporting [IWPR] on Thursday.

Over the past decade, more than 62,000 Kazaks have left Uzbekistan where they make up six per cent of the population of 25 million. It is the largest Kazak diaspora in the CIS and the second largest in the world after China. The Kazaks are the descendants of nomadic tribes who settled in Uzbekistan long the country became a nation in its own right.

Today, the Kazak diaspora is feeling the pinch of the harsh economic climate in Uzbekistan where unemployment has hit a record high and the average wage is between $8 and $15 a month, said IWPR. Most Kazaks agree that, while there is no overt racial discrimination in Uzbekistan, the government bureaucracy offers Uzbeks far better promotion prospects than other ethnic groups. A perfect knowledge of the Uzbek language is also mandatory in state-run institutions. The Kazaks have been hard hit by the education crisis in Uzbekistan. Despite six years of lobbying by teachers there are still few, if any, school-books printed in the Kazak language.

Against this backdrop, the average wage in Kazakhstan is around $90 a month while the national currency can be freely converted, offering greater opportunities for private enterprise.