ALMATY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th February, 2020) Kazakhs who fled for neighboring Kyrgyzstan amid mass unrest in the country's south are returning home, the Kazakh government said on Sunday.
On Friday, a mass brawl in Korday district of the southern Jambyl region turned into civil unrest that resulted in 10 people dead and almost 50 detained. Forty people, including five policemen, sustained injuries. Eight of those injured are currently in intensive care, the health ministry said. Twenty-five houses, 31 shops and 41 vehicles were damaged during the clashes. According to the authorities, the unrest was caused by a domestic conflict, which some instigators tried to turn into an inter-ethnic one. The region in question is home to the Dungans, a Muslim minority group of Chinese ethnic origin.
In the wake of the incident, a special government commission was set up to tackle the fallout of the unrest. According to the government, the commission started inspecting local villages and border checkpoints on Sunday.
"People arriving from Kyrgyzstan have queued at the Aukhatty [border crossing] point. These are Kazakhs who left for the neighboring republic a day before and are now returning to their homes. There are many women and children among them," the government said in a statement.
Deputy Prime Minister Berdibek Saparbayev, who heads the commission, urged people to keep calm and not give in to provocations.
"We will restore all the houses that were destroyed and help families. Our experts are working to assess the damage. Once again, we appeal to everyone: tell your loved ones who left, who are currently staying in Kyrgyzstan staying with their relatives that they should return," Saparbayev told the crowd at the border crossing point, as quoted by the press service.
According to the deputy prime minister, the situation has stabilized and no offenses have been registered in the region over the past 24 hours.
