Immigrants Wanted, as Long as They're Kyrgyz
Immigrants Wanted, as Long as They're Kyrgyz
A new government programme to encourage diaspora members to move to Kyrgyzstan will only work if it is backed by proper funding and if the settlers are given homes in the right places, NBCentralAsia analysts say.
Last week, the government approved a programme called Kayrylman (Returnee), which will assist ethnic Kyrgyz to move to the country.
NBCentralAsia commentators say there is nothing fundamentally new about the programme. In 2001, a presidential decree was issued providing for support for Kyrgyz immigrants, and the government issued an almost identical order the following year. These measures resulted in about 20,000 people settling in Kyrgyzstan.
Non-government sources say most of the Kyrgyz diaspora lives in Uzbekistan, which has around 400,000, China with 150,000 and Tajikistan with 65,000.
Migration experts explain that the new programme will give settlers the right to enjoy certain welfare benefits for a period of time, they will get an identity card, and they will not have obtain a visa or register again and again with difficult authorities.
However, the success of the programme will depend on whether there is enough funding to see it through.
Muratbek Imanaliev, head of the Institute for Public Policy, warns that unless Kyrgyzstan is properly geared up to deal with large numbers of settlers, the resulting situation could backfire on the government. “All of them will need to be settled somewhere, with housing and other facilities put in place,” he said.
Saltanat Barakanova, the director of the Immigration Foundation, part of the State Committee for Migration and Employment, recalls that previous attempts to encourage immigration failed because hey were not underpinned by funding and laws.
Another key to success will be ensuring that the Kyrgyz are housed according to a sensible distribution pattern. Of the earlier settlers, Barakanova noted that “70 per cent live in the [northern] Chuy region, which was already over-populated, and seven out of ten of them are living below the poverty line.”
Imanaliev recommends that instead of placing the settlers in the Chuy and Ferghana valleys, they should be given homes in mountainous regions that are experiencing a population shortage, for example along the main roads from Bishkek south to Osh and southeast to Torugart.
NBCentralAsia was told by the International Organisation for Migration that the government’s Immigration Foundation and the Regional Foundation for Refugee Migration are conducting a joint study to identify where the settlers should go.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
Last week, the government approved a programme called Kayrylman (Returnee), which will assist ethnic Kyrgyz to move to the country.
NBCentralAsia commentators say there is nothing fundamentally new about the programme. In 2001, a presidential decree was issued providing for support for Kyrgyz immigrants, and the government issued an almost identical order the following year. These measures resulted in about 20,000 people settling in Kyrgyzstan.
Non-government sources say most of the Kyrgyz diaspora lives in Uzbekistan, which has around 400,000, China with 150,000 and Tajikistan with 65,000.
Migration experts explain that the new programme will give settlers the right to enjoy certain welfare benefits for a period of time, they will get an identity card, and they will not have obtain a visa or register again and again with difficult authorities.
However, the success of the programme will depend on whether there is enough funding to see it through.
Muratbek Imanaliev, head of the Institute for Public Policy, warns that unless Kyrgyzstan is properly geared up to deal with large numbers of settlers, the resulting situation could backfire on the government. “All of them will need to be settled somewhere, with housing and other facilities put in place,” he said.
Saltanat Barakanova, the director of the Immigration Foundation, part of the State Committee for Migration and Employment, recalls that previous attempts to encourage immigration failed because hey were not underpinned by funding and laws.
Another key to success will be ensuring that the Kyrgyz are housed according to a sensible distribution pattern. Of the earlier settlers, Barakanova noted that “70 per cent live in the [northern] Chuy region, which was already over-populated, and seven out of ten of them are living below the poverty line.”
Imanaliev recommends that instead of placing the settlers in the Chuy and Ferghana valleys, they should be given homes in mountainous regions that are experiencing a population shortage, for example along the main roads from Bishkek south to Osh and southeast to Torugart.
NBCentralAsia was told by the International Organisation for Migration that the government’s Immigration Foundation and the Regional Foundation for Refugee Migration are conducting a joint study to identify where the settlers should go.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
