International Rescue Committee Assesses Emergency Response in Kyrgyzstan

Soldiers sit on an armored vehicle near a crowd on a street in Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan. Photo: Reuters/Alexei Osokin, courtesy www.alertnet.org 

The International Rescue Committee is evaluating options for responding to the growing humanitarian emergency in Southern Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic clashes and attacks on villages have sent tens of thousands of minority Uzbeks fleeing to the  border.

The IRC’s Emergency Response Team is closely monitoring the situation and contacting potential partners in the region ahead of a possible deployment of emergency relief experts.

Reports from Kyrgyzstan indicate that raids against ethnic Uzbek enclaves are continuing after three days of violence that has left many villages razed and in ruins. Tens of thousands of people displaced by the violence are now massed at the border with Uzbekistan and are in need of medical care, food, water and other emergency supplies.

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