Climate Displacement and Human Rights in Southern Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

This field-based study offers a rights-based assessment of the 2024 floods in Osh oblast, with field research in Nookat and Kara-Suu districts (Kyrgyzstan) across five rural villages: Kok Zhar, Gulistan, Mady Kyrgyz-Chek, Datka, and Bash Bulak. Based on interviews, observational data, and Ministry of Emergency Situations statistics (339 flood/mudflow events in 2024, 91 in Osh), it documents violations of rights to housing, water, health, mental well-being, and participation—including inadequate compensation, disrupted potable water, widespread psychosocial trauma, debris-blocked mobility, and exclusion of marginalized groups like children, elderly, and farmers from disaster preparedness and response processes. The research process was complemented by an online interview with Right Livelihood Laureate Juan Pablo Orrego (1998), whose insights on environmental justice and community-based responses informed the project’s broader analytical framing. Kyrgyzstan is among Central Asia’s most climate-vulnerable countries, facing intensified glacier melt, extreme precipitation, and recurring climate-related hazards that cost an estimated 0.5–1.3% of GDP annually (World Bank, 2023). Against this backdrop, the analysis integrates ICESCR, ICCPR, and CRC obligations and proposes policy recommendations for participatory, child-sensitive, rights-based disaster planning, enhanced early warnings, inclusive recovery, and regional cooperation to build resilience against floods, mudflows, landslides, and GLOFs.