More than 200 Afghan students receive humanitarian aid in Kazakhstan
The International Organization for Migration, with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office, together with the Commissioner for Human Rights of Kazakhstan, the Migration Service Committee of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, conducted a humanitarian action to assist Afghan citizens in the country, the official website of the Human Rights Commissioner of Kazakhstan reads.
Within the framework of humanitarian aid, more than 200 Afghan students received financial and legal consulting support. To date, the campaign has been implemented in the cities of Almaty, Shymkent, Karaganda, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Nur-Sultan.
«The Migration Service Committee has issued and extended study visas to 155 Afghan citizens studying at higher educational institutions of the country. The Migration Service Committee played an organizational role. The International Organization for Migration has offered appropriate financial assistance,» said Police Colonel, Deputy Chairman of the Migration Service Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Tleubek Takhtanov.
«Currently we do not have an opportunity to receive money from our families, because the banking system in the country is not functioning yet. No one can send or transfer money, so we were offered to make a request to organizations such as the UN Agency for Migration,» said an Afghan student from Nur-Sultan Muhammad Kabir Yexan, one of the recipients of humanitarian aid.
As noted in the National Center for Human Rights, which serves as the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan, all students were provided with legal, legal and consulting support. One of the key objectives of the campaign was to ensure the legalization of their legal status of stay in Kazakhstan.
«The international community pays close attention to protection of human rights, especially in countries experiencing a difficult period against the background of domestic political and economic events. Each state independently determines the package of support measures that it can take in relation to migrants who find themselves in a difficult life situation. One of the key directions of the campaign is the legalization of the legal status of stay in Kazakhstan of citizens from Afghanistan in order to continue their education, which is challenging for many of them not only for legal reasons, but also because of language barriers. All of them found themselves in this situation against their will and the manifestation of a humane attitude towards them is not only the duty of the state, but first of all our common human duty,» concluded Human Rights Commissioner of Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova.