Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the disaster
Sporadic clashes at the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan take place due to water disputes between the two countries seasonally. Out of approximately 1,000 km of common border, two thirds has been delimited and demarked, while one third stays undetermined. Disputes of the population over water resources on these undetermined lands cause conflicts between two states that has a tendency to get escalated.
In September 2022, re-emergence of the conflict resulted in a larger scale of violence, affecting more than 200,000 people from both sides along the whole perimeter of a borderline between Batken region of Kyrgyzstan and Sughs region of Tajikistan, and in one location in the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan. Approximately 75% of the affected population reside in Kyrgyzstan. Clashes began on 14 September and escalated to an international armed conflict between the two countries, according to the definition of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Both parties used tanks and armoured personnel carriers. The Kyrgyz Parliament held an emergency meeting due to the escalation of the situation, and, in the following days, a state of emergency was declared in the Batken region. A ceasefire agreement, which included arrangements for the withdrawal of heavy military equipment and troops from border areas, was signed on 16 September and had been largely followed since the evening of 17 September, even though tensions remained high. The border conflict continued for two days, after which both parties were able to agree to a ceasefire on the night of 16 September 2022. However, the ceasefire was broken within 24 hours. Multiple ceasefires between high-ranking officials were subsequently reached but were also repeatedly broken. On 20 September, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a peace deal, which has led to the de-escalation of the conflict, after which displaced people gradually started to return to impacted areas.