FAIZABAD (SW) – The Kyrgyz community members living in the valleys of the Pamir Mountains in Badakhshan province say the government has neglected them.
In conversation with Salam Watandar, they said it has become increasingly difficult for them to survive in this area due to the government’s lack of attention to improving their living conditions in recent years. They even warned they will leave Afghanistan and migrate to countries in the region, especially Kyrgyzstan, if the Afghan government does not pay serious attention to their living conditions.
The Kyrgyz are one of Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities living in the foothills of the Pamir Mountains at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters above sea level.
Rahman Gul Pamiri, a resident of the Pamir region of Badakhshan, said that the migration of Kyrgyz to Kyrgyzstan began in 2017. According to him, a number of those who have migrated to Kyrgyzstan have been provided with basic living facilities, which has encouraged others to leave the region.
“If the government does not pay serious attention to the living conditions of this ethnic minority, it is likely that all residents of the Pamir region will leave,” he said.
They lamented the government has not fulfilled any of the promises made to the people of the region in recent years, and the aid provided to them has been meager.
“Those who have gone to Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz government has provided all the facilities for them. Their children are studying and some of their young people have gone to university. These issues have encouraged other Kyrgyz in Badakhshan as well. First batch went in 2017 and a number of others went in 2019 and 2020. The reason for Kyrgyz migration is clear. We are a small minority. We do not have an official representative in the government. No attention has been paid to our education”, he added.
Rasul, another resident of the Pamir region of Badakhshan, said the livelihood of the Kyrgyz ethnic minority in the Pamirs depended on livestock, and that livestock deaths had increased this year, making it difficult to survive.
“We have no road, no clinic. If the government does not address our issues, we will have to go to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan or Mongolia. We are not interested in leaving Afghanistan; bt our problems have increased”, he added.
Talabauddin Qaderi, deputy head of the Badakhshan Provincial Council, said in this regard that for more than two decades, the government had done nothing to change the living conditions of Kyrgyz living in the Pamirs. According to him, only two schools were established in the region during the rule of former President Hamid Karzai.
Qaderi added the Pamir elders are not interested in leaving, but given their problems, their migration to countries in the region, especially Kyrgyzstan, is likely to increase.
Meanwhile, local officials in Badakhshan say they have made plans to hold a special meeting to address their difficulties.
Nek Mohammad Nazari, spokesman for the governor of Badakhshan, said that the government had taken steps in recent years to improve the living conditions of minorities in the Pamir region in the areas of development, education and assistance.
According to him, three years ago, the government sent more than 30 Kyrgyz children for education in Kyrgyzstan, and construction is under way on the Pamir – Khord road.
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