Ilonna lived without citizenship for many years
Ilonna Pozharskaya, a 30-year-old mother of two children, lived without a passport for most of her life. “My mother moved to Kyrgyzstan when I was a child. I didn’t ask her why we had moved from the Amur Region. We settled in Issyk Kul region. At the age...
In Vahdat, a refugee single mother makes and distributes 600 COVID masks for free
Shahrbonu, a young single mother from Afghanistan, arrived with her children in Vahdat city one year ago. This city hosts the majority of Tajikistan’s refugee community with approximately 4,000 residing there, mostly from Afghanistan. The move to Tajikistan was...
Refugee nurse on the front lines in Tajikistan’s battle against COVID
In 2006 Diyono and her family fled Afghanistan when she was still a teenager. Her family of six was granted refuge in Tajikistan and lives in the north of the country in Sughd Province. After finishing high school in Khujand, Diyono enrolled in medical college and in...
Faced with COVID, Refugees in Tajikistan Struggle to Survive
When Zilme, his wife Sausan, and their three children arrived in Tajikistan in 2013, they hoped to find a better life. They had fled Afghanistan when security conditions declined and it became too dangerous for the family to remain. However, their new life in...
2020 World Refugee Day Statement by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
We are marking this year’s World Refugee Day against a backdrop of a dramatic global crisis. Not only are record numbers of people forced to flee their homes, but the world is grappling with COVID-19, a disease that is still very much affecting us all. What...
The end of statelessness means a fresh start for an ‘invisible’ family
Imagine a 30 year-long life with a feeling of being ‘invisible’ or not belonging anywhere. Three sisters, Dariha, Kamesh and Daniya, had the exact same life experience. They were born in Omsk region, the former Soviet Union, in 1984, 1986 and respectively...
Previously stateless Sevilia, who recently obtained Kyrgyz citizenship, wants to represent Kyrgyzstan abroad
Sevilia Mamedova is a 19-year-old student at the Judicial Academy. She is an athlete and represents Kyrgyzstan in sporting events. But a couple of years ago, the girl did not know whether she could complete school and receive the coveted certificate of general...
Refugee university students conduct online lessons to support distance learning in Kyrgyzstan during the coronavirus crisis
Refugee students of local universities conduct extra-curricular lessons via WhatsApp for children from the refugee community in Kyrgyzstan who have the language barrier and thus cannot fully benefit from regular school lessons. Also, tutors are helping children with...
Formerly stateless, Umijon’s family in Batken received assistance to obtain citizenship
Umijon gets on well with everyone in the area. Congenital deafness does not prevent the 20-year-old from doing work around the house, communicating by mobile phone and playing football with his peers. “Our whole family moved to Uzbekistan in 1993. We worked...