Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan pogrom vow to return

[Judi Lynn]

Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan pogrom vow to return
'We are starving but west fails to respond', they say, and report military involvement in violence
Luke Harding in Jalal-Abad guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 17 June 2010 20.08 BST

Adina Haidarova's escape from the city of Jalal-Abad took 14 hours – a wretched, footsore, terrifying exodus. With her she had a few possessions, her two grandchildren and ailing husband Zatulam. Behind her she left a Kyrgyz mob busy torching her home at Number 4 Lenin Street and other Uzbek property.

Stumbling across fields, the family joined a weeping column of women and children heading for the Uzbek border. In the distance, fires from the Uzbek quarter lit up the night sky. At one point a Kyrgyz military helicopter buzzed overhead. "We thought they were going to shoot us," Haidarova, 56, said. "By this point we were many hundreds of women and children. We tried to hide. But they didn't shoot."

The family found sanctuary eventually in Bekobat, a rustic agricultural Uzbek settlement close to the border.

For the first four nights they slept in a grassy open field, next to a walnut tree. After that they moved in to a one-room cottage with a television, teapot and a geranium plant. Zatulam, who has heart problems, got the only bed. It is now home to 15 adults and children.

"There's not enough space, so we sleep in shifts, with the kids on our laps," Haidarova explained.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/17/kyrgyzstan-uzbek-pogrom-refugees

[provis99]

1. turks killing turks out of ethnic hatred?

bizarre world we live in.

[Captain Hilts]

2. A lot were kicked out of Uzbekistan, now, this. It's horrifying what happened to them this week. nt