Refugees from Afghanistan hold another rally near UN building in Bishkek

15:52, 20 июня 2023, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Yuri KOPYTIN

Refugees from Afghanistan hold another rally in front of the UN House in Bishkek. They ask to send them to the countries of Western Europe, the USA or Canada. Ten people participate in the rally.

«We, Afghan refugees in Kyrgyzstan, appeal to the world community, the UN, human rights activists and resettlement countries with a request to pay attention to our terrible situation. For more than 20 years we have been mandated refugees in Kyrgyzstan with the only document — a refugee card. We live in exile and without rights, without the opportunity to obtain citizenship of the country, normal access to education, medicine, the possibility of official employment. We want to have basic human rights. If Kyrgyzstan does not need us, then we see the only way out — resettle us to third countries as soon as possible,» one of the rally participants said.

In June last year, the citizens of Afghanistan held a series of protests near the buildings of the U.S. Embassy and the UN House in Bishkek. They asked either to grant them citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, or to redirect them to another state.

The reason for the protests was the fact that in 2021 Kyrgyzstan introduced restrictions on issuing visas to citizens of Afghanistan. These measures were taken in view of the unstable military-political situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, as well as in order to avoid the entry of unwanted persons into the country and the mass entry of refugees.