UN refugee agency closes its office in Uzbekistan after Government ultimatum

The United Nations refugee agency has closed down its office in Uzbekistan after 13 years of service following an ultimatum by the Foreign Ministry to end its work in the former Soviet Central Asian country by 17 April.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Tashkent, the capital, has agreed and will be allowed under an alternative arrangement to continue providing basic care and assistance to some 1,800 refugees, most of whom are Afghans, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva today.

In March the government said UNHCR, which last year helped to relocate more than 400 Uzbeks fleeing violence in their homeland, had fully implemented its tasks and there were no evident reasons for its further presence in Uzbekistan.

“UNHCR expressed regret over the decision as our work in the country was ongoing and many refugees continued to depend on assistance from us,” Ms Pagonis said. “But we only work in a country by invitation and in support of the government. So in those exceptional situations where we are asked to leave, we leave.”

UNDP will now assist with voluntary repatriation and resettlement for those refugees in Uzbekistan for whom alternative solutions have already been arranged and for those who still need solutions.

UNHCR opened its office in Uzbekistan in 1993 to support its operations during the 1992-93 civil war in neighbouring Tajikistan and in northern Afghanistan.

Last July, it assisted in the evacuation to Romania of 439 Uzbeks who had fled to neighbouring Kyrgyzstan after violence in the eastern city of Andijan may have claimed hundreds of lives.

At the time the agency said it was very concerned that other Uzbeks detained by the Kyrgyz authorities not be returned to their homeland, where UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has said returnees “may face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture and extra-judicial and summary executions.”