The Guardian revisits the Andijon massacre. Though the claim that the article is the first or an authoritative retelling of the massacre don’t exactly stand up to scrutiny, Ed Vulliamy’s article is a good reconstruction based on speaking to Uzbek refugees in Romania.
These are not ordinary refugees, outcast and dispossessed, like so many millions are, as the human side-effect of war. These 439 people are eyewitnesses to and, remarkably, survivors of one of the worst atrocities of recent times, a massacre which the perpetrators have tried to keep secret, and with whom the international diplomatic community cooperates through a conspiracy of silence.
One quick factual observation:* Vulliamy claims that no country has agreed to take in all of the Uzbek refugees in Romania. That’s not exactly true. More precisely, it has not been agreed upon where to send them from what I’ve heard. In fact, it’s back in the comments. The US offered to take all of them, but the UNHCR apparently wants to split them up. Vulliamy says they want to stay together, but at least what we’ve been told around these parts is that the UNHCR isn’t down with that.
Anyone who has more information on their resettlement, please feel free to let us know.
*Stylistically, I must say I’m quite turned off by Vulliamy’s imprecision and gentle exaggerations–”massacre of hundreds, possibly thousands, of innocent civilians” implying anywhere from 200 to God only knows for example. Filter out his style, and it’s a good article.
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2974 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan is the Founding Editor and Publisher of Registan.net, which he launched in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with private and government clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural and political factors shape risks and opportunities and how organizations can adjust their strategic and operational plans to account for these variables. Nathan is currently seeking research, analysis, and consulting opportunities. He can be contacted via Twitter or email.
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