Only a handful of Afghans who fled to Kyrgyzstan are facing an uncertain future | Refugee Stories

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – Every time Fatima Framarz flew from Kabul to Bishkek, she was determined to return to the Afghan capital.

The 31-year-old knew that the lessons learned at Kyrgyzstan’s OSCE Academy would be put to good use in her war-torn homeland.

With a degree in International Relations, she trained as a journalist and soon joined the popular Etilaat Roz newspaper, which in 2000 won the 2020 Anti-Corruption Award for Transparency International.

In July, he flew again from Kabul to the Kyrgyz capital. Little did he know, that was his last trip from Afghanistan.

Following a summer vacation at the school, a return flight to Framarz was scheduled for August 15th.

“On the same day, Kabul was handed over to the Taliban and the former President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country. All flights were canceled,” Framarz said. “With the help of one of my Kyrgyz teachers, I went to the UNHCR office in Bishkek to apply for refugee status.”

Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country with a population of 6.5 million, is not a destination for Afghan refugees. The two countries do not share borders and there are few trade links between them.

But in view of the proximity of Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the surrounding areas of Afghanistan, and the availability of English higher education institutions, some Afghans are seeking the opportunity to flee their homeland.

According to the State Migration Service, as of August 2021, Kyrgyzstan has received 73 Afghan refugees.

It is not known how many arrived or applied for protection after the fall of Kabul.

In recent years, Kyrgyzstan has again experienced political upheaval.

In October 2020, the Kyrgyzstanis seized the presidential palace at Bishkek-White House – for the third time in 15 years, demanding that parliament be demolished for alleged electoral fraud.

In the midst of a revolution, prisons were opened and Sadyr Japarov, a former 11-and-a-half-year inmate for cheating on a government official, was soon appointed as the country’s new president.

Once the dust settles and Japarov sets the country on the path to a more authoritarian presidency, considering what some critics claim to have more power, Kyrgyzstan may have a hard time accepting Taliban refugees fleeing.

According to the World Bank, Kyrgyzstan’s poverty rate reached 31 percent by the end of 2020 and is now about 25 percent.

In addition, Kyrgyzstan relies heavily on foreign exchange earnings, mainly in Russia, which account for about 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

But Framarz is not worried, for now.

He has enrolled in a Master of Law program at the American University of Central Asia and is not planning to leave the country before completing his studies.

He said: “I love everything about Kyrgyzstan, but living on my own, without any relatives, is not going to be easy. “Although we all live in uncertain conditions, I plan to stay with my mom and my younger siblings [in a third country] after I finish my studies. ”

Like Framarz, Ali, who asked Al Jazeera to use the pseudonym for security reasons, is currently enrolling in a university program at American University of Central Asia.

But his approach to defense was different from that of Framarz.

As a member of the long-suffering Hazara faction in Afghanistan, Ali knew that the fall of Kabul would mark the end of his homeland.

He did not want to use his future to be under the control of the Taliban government.

“I left Kabul on October 2, took a flight to Islamabad and then to Bishkek on October 8. I was looking for a way to get my wife and son but the university could not get them visas. I left my wife and baby and left. I packed my laptop and my clothes and ran to the airport, “said Ali.

“I did not choose Kyrgyzstan – it was there. This is not the place I want but I hope the Kyrgyz government will help me reunite with my wife and child because with the situation in Afghanistan, I will not be able to think about going back.

Ali said his ambition was to move to Europe, but if that were not possible, he would be living happily in Kyrgyzstan, where, he said, the people are friendly.

He understands, however, that due to the economic crisis, inflation and political instability, settling down here would not be an option.

In addition, Kyrgyzstan does not want to help Afghan refugees.

“The government does not provide any assistance, but all groups (asylum seekers, refugees and”command refugees‘(UNHCR recognized) have access to medical care and high school education,’ ‘said Ilyana Zhedigerova, a lawyer and head of Precedent, a law enforcement agency in Kyrgyzstan.

“But a person who has been given protection cannot be deported.”

When the Taliban seized power, the Bishkek government promised to issue 500 student visas to Afghan youth and sought to deport Kyrgyz migrants living in Afghanistan.

But because of political instability, Kyrgyzstan, like other Central Asian countries, has considered the issue of refugee protection in Afghanistan – and that will not change any time soon.

“The reality is that the people of Afghanistan were born in the wrong place and that is our biggest problem,” Ali said. “My case is just a tip. There are many Afghan people, including my friends, who want to flee. But there are very few opportunities to get out.”

Editor’s notes: Aigerim Turgunbaeva quoted from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, while Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska quoted from Krakow, Poland.