© UNHCR photo

A year after ethnic violence erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan, tens of thousands of people are still unable to go home. The UN refugee agency has called for more confidence-building efforts to ensure sustainable returns and genuine reconciliation.

Between June 10 and 14 last year, communal clashes between Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities mainly in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad left 470 people dead, and also raised fears of a break-up of the state. A further 375,000 were forced to flee amid widespread destruction and looting of homes. About 75,000 people crossed the border into Uzbekistan while 300,000 were displaced within Kyrgyzstan.

Most of them were able to return to their home areas shortly after. UNHCR mobilized emergency assistance and within 100 days, helped to build emergency transitional shelter for more than 13,400 people whose homes were destroyed. The agency also distributed tons of coal, warm clothing and relief items to 21,000 people to help them through six months of winter.

However, some 60,000 people are still displaced today across the country and abroad. Another 20,000 people are living with host families. Some say they cannot return because of continuing problems such as damaged property, security concerns and a lack of job opportunities.

"One year has passed but it is still too early to talk about stability," said one man, aged 39. "We still do not let our children play alone in the streets and we accompany them everywhere."

One woman, 42, lamented that the number of factories in Jalalabad has dwindled to one. "There should be work for all, so that people would not have to leave their families and go to Russia to earn money," she said. "We [the different communities] should work together in the same factories. Only by being together and working shoulder to shoulder can we regain that trust and understand each other better."

UNHCR and its partners are currently assisting some 280,000 affected people in Osh and Jalalabad with the aim of meeting the legal and socio-economic needs of affected people, with special attention to the most vulnerable. UNHCR teams are present in 50 locations monitoring the situation and discussing and seeking solutions with local communities and authorities. The agency runs a round-the-clock hotline that receives about 100 calls a week, free of charge. The most commonly discussed topics include counselling about property and legal rights, access to public services, security, and how to restore businesses and employment.

UNHCR activities include mobile teams who help restore identity and property documents that were lost or damaged in last year's violence. People from different communities work and learn side by side in quick impact projects to rehabilitate small infrastructure, generate income and build peace.

Out of the US$11.4 million UNHCR needs to run projects in Kyrgyzstan this year, it has received just over half and is facing a shortfall of $5.4 million.