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Journalism of Courage
The United States has said it is focused for now on easing the humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan but listed better security and a probe of the causes of the unrest there as priorities.
“Our principal focus is to provide humanitarian assistance to all those who were displaced by the violence,” Robert Blake,assistant secretary of state for central Asian affairs,said in prepared testimony to a bipartisan panel.
Blake,whose prepared remarks to the panel were released by the State Department,estimated there were still some 75,000 people displaced in Kyrgyzstan.
Deadly clashes between ethnic majority Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in and around the cities of Osh and Jalalabad last month may have killed as many as 2,000 people,and left tens of thousands homeless.
An estimated 100,000 fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan.
During a conference in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek,international donors yesterday pledged 1.1 billion dollars in aid to help rebuild the ex-Soviet republic.
The State Department said the United States has so far contributed 48.6 million dollars in humanitarian aid,on top of nearly 100 million dollars in bilateral aid Washington intends to give Kyrgyzstan by the end of 2011.
As part of efforts to promote reconciliation in the country,Blake said,the US is also seeking improved security to prevent future violence as well as an independent probe into the causes of the unrest.
Another step Washington wants is “that the local Kyrgyzstani law enforcement and judicial institutions must be reliable and credible and have the trust of the people,” he said.
