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RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPOD
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DE RUEHNT #1489/01 2591146
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161146Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1322
INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
CIS COLLECTIVE
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0024
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001489 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB PGOV UZ
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: Notes from the Northwest 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Hayitbay Yakirboy, a human rights activist from 
Khorezm, met with poloff on August 12, 2009 to discuss issues 
facing northwestern Uzbekistan.  Yakirboy addressed labor 
trafficking problems and discontent in the semiautonomous region of 
Karakalpakstan and the northwest province of Khorezm, as well as 
the situation of ethnic Uzbeks living in Turkmenistan.  End 
summary. 
 
 
 
No Work in the Wasteland 
 
------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Yakirboy described the semiautonomous region of 
Karakalpakstan as a "wasteland," noting that although Nukus, the 
capital city of the "Republic," is still a functioning urban 
center, the rural areas are without infrastructure, economic 
opportunity, or medical treatment facilities, and that rural 
populations have no access to clean drinking water.  He reported 
that up to 30 percent of working age people leave for migrant work 
in Kazakhstan, Russia, and even Mongolia.  He explained that 
Kazakhstan and Mongolia are drawing an increasing number of people 
because those governments are more favorable to foreign workers. 
Specifically, Kazakhstan has a repatriation program for ethnic 
Karakalpaks, who have close ethnic ties with ethnic Kazakhs.  This 
program gives certain benefits to Uzbeks who relocate permanently 
to Kazakhstan, so many who leave are not coming back.  Mongolia 
apparently is receptive to foreign workers, as well, although the 
job opportunities there are not as plentiful as in Kazakhstan.  In 
Russia, both labor and social conditions are getting worse for 
Central Asians, so while people still do head to Russia in large 
numbers, many are looking elsewhere for better opportunities. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Yakirboy described conditions in Khorezm province, also in 
northwestern Uzbekistan, detailing a recent labor trafficking case 
where five young males were promised good jobs in Kazakhstan, but 
had their passports taken from them as soon as they arrived.  The 
men, the youngest of whom was 17 years old, worked without pay and 
tried to get their passports back, unable to get word to their 
families of their situation.  Four of the five were able to return 
to Horazm about a year later without their passports, but the fifth 
is reportedly still missing somewhere in Kazakhstan.  Yakirboy 
stated that in the last nine months, he has documented more than 
160 cases of Uzbek workers in Russia and Mongolia who say they are 
working without getting paid. 
 
 
 
Growing Discontent 
 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Yakirboy stated that local and regional governments do 
little to address labor trafficking problems in the region, noting 
that the Government of Uzbekistan does not consider labor migrants 
in its anti-trafficking programs.  He described how Uzbek border 
officials harass exiting migrants, exacting a toll for crossing the 
border and threatening to accuse migrants of being under the 
influence of drugs if they don't pay, which can result in a 
three-day medical confinement.  Officials do little to assist 
families who try to track down sons and daughters who fall out of 
contact after leaving the country, and nothing to improve the local 
domestic economy, which at least theoretically could provide an 
alternative to working abroad. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Yakirboy asserted that discontent is growing over a 
variety of issues, not just trafficking.  He said that local 
officials have been known to hold back pensions and other social 
payments until certain "fees" are paid, and are unresponsive to 
residents' complaints.  Those people who try to use the courts to 
 
TASHKENT 00001489  002 OF 002 
 
 
resolve civil financial matters have to wait years for any 
resolution, and between actual fees, bribes, and lengthy delays, 
rarely achieve what they believe to be justice. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) While there used to be an independence movement in 
Karakalpakstan, Yakirboy stated that there is little left of it. 
But while independence may no longer be a rallying cry, Yakirboy 
stated ominously that discontent is quietly building, as people 
feel ever less able to improve their daily lives. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment: While little is reported on discontent in the 
northwest, it's not surprising in light of the ecological and 
socio-economic situation there.  With so much of the population 
leaving the country either temporarily or on a permanent basis, 
though, it seems doubtful that any real social upheaval will 
originate from either Karakalpakstan or Khorezm.  Andijon, in 
Eastern Uzbekistan, with its growing population and history of 
ethnic and religious conflict, remains the most-likely center of 
public unrest in Uzbekistan.  End comment. 
 
 
 
Ethnic Uzbeks in Turkmenistan 
 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Yakirboy has family in nearby Turkmenistan, and closely 
follows the situation of ethnic Uzbeks in Turkmenistan.  He gave a 
short history of the problem, stating that after independence, some 
ethnic Uzbeks in Turkmenistan could obtain neither Uzbek nor 
Turkmen citizenship, and kept their red Soviet passports as travel 
documents.  Then, under Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi), ethnic 
Uzbeks were allowed to get passports from Turkmenistan, but had to 
list their ethnicity as Turkmen.  Yakirboy described a time of 
Uzbek "cultural ethnic cleaning," where theaters, museums, 
education materials, and cultural groups were all wiped clean of 
any reference to an Uzbek population or past.  He states that even 
high level ministers with Uzbek ancestry were dismissed from their 
positions. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Today, ethnic Uzbeks have the same legal rights to social 
programs and protections as ethnic Turkmen, at least on paper.  In 
practice, Yakirboy states, several hurdles stand in the way.  For 
example, while there is no barrier to attending higher education 
facilities, no educational instruction is given in the Uzbek 
language.  According to Yakirboy's research, between 1997 and 2008, 
only 5 ethnic Uzbeks have received university diplomas.  Finally, 
Yakirboy states that Turkmen data greatly underestimates the ethnic 
Uzbek population, with 2008 figures showing that only 120,000 
ethnic Uzbeks live in Turkimenistan, whereas Yakirboy states that 
according to his figures, 169,000 Uzbeks live in one region alone. 
 
¶10.    (SBU) Comment:  Little information on the problem of ethnic 
Uzbeks in Turkmenistan exists in Uzbekistan.  Although Yakirboy 
gets much of his information through friends and relatives in 
Turkmenistan, he has also partnered with a Russian human rights 
monitoring group that looks at this issue, and has been involved in 
some training of Turkmen rights activists.  His work seems well 
documented, and he belongs to one of the most professional 
coalitions of human rights workers (Rapid Response Group) in 
Uzbekistan.  While his numbers may not be 100 percent accurate (as 
few are in Central Asia), his conclusion - that ethnic Uzbeks still 
face significant de facto barriers to full equality in Turkmenistan 
- bears further scrutiny.  End comment. 
NORLAND