Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire: What Kyrgyz Refugees Face in Uzbekistan

Gulnora Juma is a small woman. She speaks very quietly which only enhances the power of the message that she relays via an interpreter. Though I don't speak Uzbek, the emotion Mrs. Juma conveys when she describes how the fingers of her husband's right hand were purposely broken in order to physically prevent him from writing his powerful political poems needs no translation.

Her husband, prominent poet and political activist Yusuf Juma (also written Jumaev), has been held in Jaslyk Prison in Uzbekistan, known as the worst in the country, for almost three years.

Though completely healthy at 50 when he was first arrested, torture, attacks by other prisoners, and general neglect have taken a toll. His eyesight has been reduced to no more than a few feet, and all of his teeth have been knocked out, making eating nearly impossible.

Mrs. Juma has been living in the United States with 4 of her children for the past three years. Their family was forced to flee Uzbekistan under the cover of night, amidst gunfire, as Uzbek security forces surrounded their farm outside the capitol city of Tashkent. She and her children were able to escape to Kazakhstan and eventually receive asylum in the U.S., but her husband was apprehended.

As Kyrgyzstan erupted into violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks this week, an estimated 150,000 Uzbeks have fled across the border to Uzbekistan, seeking refuge in their ethnic homeland. Surely, it's best that they are out of imminent danger, yet thousands of Uzbeks now find themselves reliant on protection from one of the world's harshest and most repressive regimes. Read more