Women who have returned to Uzbekistan from war zones in the Middle East say the hardships they face in the country are nothing compared to what they experienced during the war.
Uzbekistan was one of the first countries in Central Asia to return its citizens from Syria and Iraq. From 2019 to 2021, there have been five special repatriation operations, collectively code-named «Mehr». The most recent one, the fifth, was conducted last spring. As a result of all these evacuating events, 438 women and children from the Middle East and Afghanistan were returned to the country.
Speaking about operation Mehr, during one of his trips around the country, Uzbekistan’s president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, spoke about how difficult the process of returning Uzbek citizens was.
«We were returning them with great difficulties… Most of the women were not allowed to leave… Why did these women go to Syria?… For me every family is valuable. You went back to Uzbekistan and started a new life… We will not stop here and, as a state, we will provide you with a worthy future», – he said.
Sherzod Asadov, head of the presidential press service, informed that a lot of work is being done with the repatriated citizens on their adaptation and return to civilian life.
«Some know, some may not, but it is a very time-consuming, fragile process. … Much work is being done to rehabilitate our returnees, to provide medical and psychological assistance, to provide material aid», – said the head of the presidential press service.
Now all these women and children are under the special care of the authorities and undergo comprehensive rehabilitation. Psychologists and lawyers work with them, and employees of specialized NGOs help them adapt and rebuild a peaceful life.
The head of the Center, Olia Muradova, believes that the rehabilitation and reintegration process is very difficult and painstaking work that is done individually with each family.
«I am often asked the question, how many years does it take for a person to integrate? You know, even now, after five years, I can’t give a clear answer, because every case is different. We work with each family solely on the basis of their voluntary consent, when they themselves are interested in being helped», – Muradova said.
Stories of repatriated women
CABAR.asia spoke with some of the women in Uzbekistan who returned as part of operation Mehr to find out what problems they face. Most of them are young, between 25 and 48 years old. Their stories are similar in many ways. They say that after the hardships they endured during their lives in Syria and Iraq, the existing problems in Uzbekistan seem insignificant to them.
Mushtari Talibzhonova, (all names were changed) 28 years old, was born in the Andijan region. She lived in Syria for six years and was returned to Uzbekistan as part of operation Mehr-3.
«I got married when I was 19, my husband went to work in Russia, and then in 2014, he left to work in Turkey. I had a daughter and stayed in Uzbekistan. When my baby was 5 months old, my husband called me and told me to come to visit him in Turkey. I took my baby and departed. My husband’s brother met us in Turkey, he took care of us and sent us to Syria along with several Kyrgyz women from the Turkish border. After I crossed the Syrian border, my suffering, hunger, and hardship began. Two days later, I met my husband, whose only thoughts were of becoming a martyr. There were days when we were homeless, sleeping outside, we lived in tents dug deep into the ground, and my daughter was suffering from hunger. Only sometimes we managed to warm the water, our only meat was raw wheat. My husband was involved in battles, returning for two days every three months, and then going off again to fight. I went through a lot of hardships. A year later my husband died, after which I was married off to a man from Kyrgyzstan», – she said.
Mushtari Talibzhonova said she was completely prostrated when she missed the Mehr-2 operation, often crying and longing to return home. Only a year and a half later, she managed to get into operation Mehr-3.
«Having returned back to Uzbekistan, I appreciated the peace. Psychologists helped a lot. We are grateful to our country and our president, thank you very much. I got a job, my daughter goes to school. Thanks to Allah, my life has changed», – this woman told CABAR.asia.
Aziza Koraeva, 38, another woman who returned from Syria, a resident of Oltinsoy District, Surkhandarya Region, had lived in Syria for six years and gave birth to a child there. She was brought to Uzbekistan as part of the “Mehr-5” special operation.
To stop being afraid and shivering at night, she had to pass a long way, which is still not finished. She told CABAR.asia her story.
Married right out of high school and having four children, she separated from her first husband. While working in the city of Shurchi, she met a young man who convinced her to go to Turkey, where she could make good money.
«First I went to Turkey and then to Syria. I suffered a lot, I spent six years of my life, amidst bombings and hunger. There, in Syria, I was married off to an Uzbek fighter and gave a birth to a son. There were days when we starved for days and nights. We didn’t even have a house and had to live outside in winter. We dreamed of going back to Uzbekistan», – Aziza said.
After her return to Uzbekistan, psychologists worked with her. But her suffering has not completely ended.
Aziza Koraeva, 38, another woman who returned from Syria, a resident of Oltinsoy District, Surkhandarya Region, had lived in Syria for six years and gave birth to a child there. She was brought to Uzbekistan as part of the “Mehr-5” special operation.
To stop being afraid and shuddering at night, she had to go a long way, which is still incomplete. She told CABAR.asia her story.
Married right out of high school and having four children, she separated from her first husband. While working in the city of Shurci, she met a young man who convinced her to go to Turkey, where she could make good money.
«First I went to Turkey and then to Syria. I suffered a lot, I spent six years of my life, amidst bombings and hunger. There, in Syria, I was married to an Uzbek fighter and had a son. There were days when we starved for days and nights. We didn’t even have a house and had to live outside in winter. We dreamed of going back to Uzbekistan», – Aziza said.
After her return to Uzbekistan, psychologists worked with her. But her problems are still not completely solved.
«Now I live in my brother’s house. The state gave us land to build a house, but this land is not registered in my name. My 6-year-old child receives an allowance from the state. But my father doesn’t let me see my other four children. I was in misery. Now I’m going to work. When I have a chance, I want to learn the profession of a tailor. Now psychologists visit us and talk to us. Before I was afraid to sleep at night, I was afraid of the dark, but now I’m fine. At first, neighbors were afraid to talk to us, but now it’s okay, too. Thank God, I have minor, domestic problems. And I really want to see my children», – the woman said.
Gulsorakhon Karimova, 48, is also from the Andijan region. She went to Syria with three children at the invitation of her husband. She had to live on the battlefields for four years. Her two sons and daughter were killed. She was returned to Uzbekistan as part of operation Mehr 3.
«In 2015, at the invitation of her husband, I went with 3 children first to Turkey, then with my husband to Syria. We were met by a woman named Aisha in Syria. We had a lot of problems. I didn’t understand why my husband brought us to such a place. My oldest son was killed in an explosion. My other 17-year-old son was killed in an airstrike. His body was torn apart. My husband died of a bullet wound. We had a lot of trouble there. We were running away from bombs and shelling. We were starving and eating only wheat. Another child was born in Syria. It was hard for us with two children. We also married my daughter in Syria, and I recently received a letter from my son-in-law in Syria informing me that she was gone. Sometimes we lived by digging in the ground. I cried for weeks, we starved and drank only water for weeks. I thought we would die there», – she says.
Gulsorakhon says her gratitude to her country is immeasurable. Her life is slowly improving, but the wound of her rash act is not healing.
«Our country gave us love. Psychologists worked with us. If I hadn’t gone to Syria, my children would be alive now. My young children, when they saw the plane, would lie on the ground and cry in fear. Now, thank Allah, the fears are going away. My government gave me a sewing machine. Now I am sewing clothes in our neighborhood. My neighbors treat us well, too. For 3 months, teachers taught my children various subjects. To all other people I advise, let no one run astray and leave to other countries. We have enough of everything in our divine country. I don’t even want to wish the kind of biting calamity I have experienced on my enemy. I can never get my children and my husband back», – Karimova said.
Five-year-old Aisha’s family, consisting of her mother and two sisters, was returned to Uzbekistan as part of operation Mehr-3. Now her sisters go to school and attend additional classes to keep up with the program. After her arrival in Namangan, psychologists conducted rehabilitation work with the girls, and their health significantly improved. Children are no longer afraid of the street. They go to school, socialize and play with their peers.
Their family is not very rich. Now they live off their grandmother’s disability allowance and alimony, which is only enough to support their children. But they are grateful to their government for bringing them back to their homeland.
To support Aisha’s family, the authorities allocated them land and began building a house for them. To help the mother earn money to live independently, the authorities gave her a sewing machine and taught her how to sew. Comprehensive corrective work is being done with this family.
The Hard Way of Rehabilitation
All these stories were told by participants of a rehabilitation program, as part of rehabilitation and reintegration programs for those repatriated from the Middle East and Afghanistan, which is operated by a number of non-governmental organizations, including the NGO Barqaror Hayot center.
Most of these women have not faced discrimination or stigma from society, Olia Muradova said. She says a great deal of work has been done in Uzbekistan, including by the Spiritual Administration of Muslims, whose representatives spoke at Friday sermons about tolerance and tolerance for returned women and children.
«There were certain conflicts within the family members. It’s understandable, sometimes there were some property disputes, issues of division of property, and the right to housing. Everyone has such problems. That’s why we can’t say that they were condemned by society», – she said.
Psychologists and social workers played a huge role in the rehabilitation process.
«These are the most important people who determined the weather in these processes. Because it was very important to accompany them all the way, especially during the initial phase when they first came back», – Olia Muradova said.
So many things are revealed later, such as health problems, she says.
«People have returned from war zones. These people have some kind of shrapnel wounds or injuries. Also, children, if we are talking about them, have psychological problems. Among these children, there are orphans. These children have seen the death of their loved ones. That is, they have seen their parents die before their eyes. So to tell about the depth of their psychological problems it’s not telling anything at all. This is very comprehensive and difficult work that psychologists do painstakingly», – she said.
One of the NGOs included in the working group under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan that works on the reintegration and rehabilitation of families repatriated from the Middle East war zones is the social and educational center “Barkaror Hayot”, located in the city of Termez. This working group, established in 2018, includes many government organizations, including the ministries of school education, mahallah (local self-government bodies), health, employment and labor relations, and others.
The center’s psychologist, Shakhlo Farmonova, said their organization acts as a bridge for returnee families to adjust to life. Understanding that these people faced enormous psychological problems in the war zones, suffering from bomb blasts, homelessness, and hunger, the center’s staff worked with each family individually. Separately with mothers, separately with children. Psychologists, lawyers, doctors, and teachers helped them together as part of a larger team.
«We study each family thoroughly. After studying their problems, specialists in these issues are brought into the working group. Every three months we conduct monitoring. We visit the villages and help their social adaptation to life. We also study the children’s study issues at schools and discuss them with the teachers», – said the psychologist.
Farmonova said the center organized small training courses in tailoring, hairdressing and other skills where returnees were trained in new professions. Now there are nurses, seamstresses, and entrepreneurs among the women, who came back from Syria.
«They have a keen interest in life. The women think they have to catch up with what they missed while they were in Syria. Some of our women have even gone to university. They also take their children to various science clubs», – Shakhlo Farmonova said.
Because many of them do not have information about their spouses’ deaths, and because their spouses were killed in Syria, one of the main problems for these families is the lack of spousal death certificates and some other documents. Now they are trying to find a solution to these problems with the help of lawyers.
The children had difficulty mastering the subjects in school. A solution was found when a group of volunteers was formed from young people to help them learn the subjects.
In five years, they have supported more than a hundred families returned from the war zones of Syria and Iraq in four pilot districts of Uzbekistan, in Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya, Namangan, and Tashkent provinces, Olia Muradova said.
«I myself provide psychological support to 18 families… I can say with certainty that they have forgotten about the situation in Syria and have adapted to life», – Farmonova said.