The UN Children’s Fund is warning that lack of access is hampering the delivery of humanitarian relief for the 1.1 million people affected by fighting in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF’s Head of Office in Kyrgyzstan says that 40 tonnes of lifesaving water and sanitary supplies arrived in the capital Bishkek over the weekend.

“However we are concerned that we will be unable to easily and quickly distribute the supplies to the most affected. Security is an issue, particularly as we are transporting valuable material.”

The situation is exacerbated by criminal activity along roads leading to the south and in Osh and Jalalabad.

“There has been a serious breakdown in infrastructure and security in the south,” Vietch says.

UNICEF’s supplies for Krygystan include water and sanitation material, and health kits, valued at $1.6 million.

The UNICEF representative called on all parties to cease fighting and to allow humanitarian access.

“More than 40,000 people have been internally displaced and another 260,000 people are living with relatives, some even in barns or facilities for housing animals.”

Conditions in the camps in neighbouring Uzbekistan where refugees who fled the fighting are sheltered are also dire, and adequate supplies of shelter, food, medicines and water are urgently needed.

As the humanitarian crisis unfolds in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, World Refugee Day (20 June) is a reminder that some 15 million people worldwide have been uprooted by conflict or persecution and are unable to return to their homes.

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