KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

migrants’ status is not legalized, or while lobbying is in progress, the migrants’ rights
to receive proper medical treatment should be addressed. Perhaps a special clinic could
be set up that is open to everyone; even better, a special status of a temporary patient
could be created to allow migrants without registration to receive treatment in local
neighborhood clinics.
Police treatment
The research suggests working with human rights experts, lawyers and top
management in the police department to change the behavior of police officers toward
migrants. Some monitoring and control measures should be introduced that stop police
officers from abusing their powers. As suggested above, police should focus their efforts
on real criminals rather than on those migrants who work hard to feed their families.
Media campaign
Finally, an effective media campaign should bring the discussion of issues of
migrants into the public gaze, instead of hiding them from everyone’s eyes. A series of
films about migrants’ life in the city, publications in the newspapers, regular Migrants’
News on TV with latest updates, lectures and round-table discussions open for public,
would all help bring the issue “out of the closet” and become everyone’s concern. Of
course, this should be done ethically and thoughtfully, not with the goal of damaging
reputations, but to achieve public awareness and motivation towards improving the
situation.
The researchers believe in the great potential of the Bishkek community at all
levels – from a top government official to a simple city resident– to accommodate and
integrate fellow citizens from other regions. In this time of difficulties and dramatic
transformations, the last thing Kyrgyzstanis want is to “eat” each other and force people
out of “our” territories. Instead, we should look for models in which incomers (who
play such an important role in the life of the city) would be better integrated into the
general urban community.
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