Saule Shalgynbaeva and Ilmira Gafiatullina in southern Kazakhstan
Kazakhs pride themselves on their great hospitality. If a newcomer needs shelter, the old tradition of ‘Asar’ – “mutual assistance” – swings into action to ensure that one is built. Relatives, neighbours and new friends come together to lend a hand.
With many Kazakh migrants returning home over the past decade, the Kazakh Red Crescent has capitalised on ‘Asar’, mobilising communities to help the new settlers feel welcome.
Karasha Shabaeva is one of those who has benefited from that help. Kazakh by origin, she returned to Kazakhstan from neighbouring Uzbekistan with her husband and three children ten years ago. The difficult decision came after the school in her Uzbek stopped teaching in Kazakh, depriving their children of the chance to study in their native language and maintain their cultural traditions.
Invitation
The Shabaevs sold their modest belongings and moved to southern Kazakhstan, where they joined a community of other ethnic Kazakhs who had migrated from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkmenistan following an invitation from the Kazakh president to return to their homeland. Since 1992, around 250,000 returnees have taken up the offer, and many more are still coming.
They have been officially welcomed by the authorities and settled next to local communities in rural areas. Around 70 per cent of newcomers have now received citizenship and enjoy all benefits of this legal status. For the rest, however, the issue is unresolved, and life is full of legal barriers that lead to unemployment, poor living conditions and marginalisation.
Although the migrants’ problems are similar to those faced by Kazakh people living in poorer regions, the hardship of the returnees remains a big concern for the Government and humanitarian organisations, such as the Kazakh Red Crescent.
Karasha used to be a Kazakh language teacher, but was unable to find a job in her new home, the small town of Enbek, in Almaty province. Her retired husband’s pension, equivalent to US$ 20 a month, was the family’s only income.
Small businesses
The Kazakh Red Crescent stepped in, providing the Shabaevs with food, clothing and other basic necessities. Starting with relief distributions in migrant communities, the Red Crescent received significant support from the International Federation and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which enabled it to extend assistance further. But more support is needed.
Two years ago, Karasha’s was one of 40 returnee families in southern Kazakhstan to be given a grant by the IOM and Red Crescent to start a small business. That represented a turning point for Karasha. The grant helped her family and her neighbours with whom she shared milk from the donated cow, helping them to overcome cold and hunger.
“Now that my family’s life has become more stable, I would like to help other people in our community to improve their lot,” says Karasha, who as well as becoming a Red Crescent volunteer, is also the leader of a women’s group in Karatay.
Women are central to the Red Crescent activities in the returnees’ communities. Often facing a language barrier and lacking professional skills, women feel abandoned and isolated. Those who head their families alone are in an even worse situation. Helping them to better adapt and integrate, the Red Crescent and IOM have opened nine training centres where women can learn hairdressing and baking, as well as study Kazakh and Russian.
Legal advice
Last year, the Red Crescent conducted a series of seminars through the centres to provide migrant community leaders with legal advice, which is essential for the many still awaiting their citizenship.
“I attended the meeting organised by the Red Crescent and had a chance to talk about many of the issues that worry us,” Karasha explains. “I am happy that I can now explain to my female friends and neighbours how they can apply for a citizenship and where they can enrol for vocational training.”
She adds that she will be among those taking Russian classes. “My friends and I would like local people to better understand us, despite our differences.”
Now a real driving force in her community, Karasha Shabaeva, together with other members of her women’s association, wants to “repay the kindness” shown to her when she was struggling. That is why the local Red Crescent branch recently received eight bull calves, the offspring of the cows that were granted to Karasha and other returnees in Karatay.
The Red Crescent “Asar” is in full swing.