Out of 500 homeless people in Sughd Region, only one is registered

According to a study conducted by human rights defenders, there are 500 homeless people in the Sughd region, but the regional authorities have officially registered only one of them.

Photo: Internet

As reported by the Asia-Plus agency, the study was conducted by the public organization “Diyor” and a group of human rights defenders in the cities and districts of the Sughd region. The study was funded by the public foundation “Notabene”.

The authors of the study claim that the homeless are a vulnerable segment of the population, as they lack documents and access to social and medical services.

According to Bahriiniso Abdurakhmanova, the head of the public organization “Diyor”, the number of homeless people in the Sughd region is growing every day.

The study found that these individuals lost their homes for various reasons. In particular, reasons cited include family disputes, loss of housing due to economic difficulties, bank debts, release from prison, or completion of boarding schools. According to the study, 52% of the surveyed homeless had previously owned housing but ended up on the streets for various reasons.

The head of the “Diyor” organization added that the homeless cannot receive timely medical treatment due to the lack of documents, and as a result, many of them die young.

“Among the homeless, one can find deportees, internal and external migrants, representatives of national minorities, and even minors. They live on the streets, at bus stops, in dilapidated garages, markets, and unfinished buildings. They die from chronic and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and tuberculosis,” said Abdurakhmanova.

“A survey of 100 homeless individuals showed that 54% of them were aged 18 to 44, 14% were aged 44 to 60, and 2% were older than 60 or younger than 18. Additionally, 94% are citizens of Tajikistan, 4% are stateless persons, and 2% are foreigners. Among them, 42% are ethnic Tajiks, 25% are Uzbeks, 21% are Russians, and the remaining 12% are Tatars, Ukrainians, Koreans, and Africans.”

The authors of the study assert that the government has no program for providing legal assistance to the homeless.

“The problem of homelessness exists in our country, and we need to find ways to address this issue. According to some data, there are about 500 homeless people in the Sughd region,” said the human rights defender.

At the same time, the Government of Tajikistan receives large sums annually as aid from international financial institutions to reduce poverty and assist vulnerable segments of the population. However, only one person is included in the official statistics as homeless instead of 500. The government does not provide the public with reports on where and how these funds have been spent.