Central Asia
The Shameful Role of the West
Since 1991, the Central Asian
countries have increasingly become the focus of strategic and economic
interests of the USA as well as of China. While we hear a good deal
about the
military bases that have been built by the USA, about the exploitation
of the
uranium deposits, and the planned oil pipelines and those already under
construction, the misery of the poverty-stricken and ailing populations
of
these countries often remains veiled.
bha. Urgently needed
humanitarian aid must not be limited to the promotion of tourism.
Economic aid
must not be restricted to the development of the transport corridors.
The state
of the population's health must be recognized. The rich industrial
nations in
the west need to morally commit themselves to utilizing their best
medical
forces for the alleviation and the long-term improvement of the ailing
population.
Some focal points:
Turkmenistan reports the outbreak of bubonic plague.
Since June more than 30 cases have been reported.
In South Kyrgyzstan several persons fell ill with
Anthrax after they had eaten infected meat.
In Tajikistan typhoid fever has broken out. More
than 200 persons have been taken to hospital. Polluted water is said to
be the
cause.
The UN has placed Kazakhstan on the "Map of
Famine". 20 to 34 per cent of the Kazakh population is permanently
undernourished. Kazakhstan is in third place on the "Map of Famine".
The Kazakh
president Nursultan Nazarbayev, however, wants to cut support for
smallholders.
He stated that the World Trade Organization demanded that this happen.
The Kyrgyz newspaper Jany
kylym of 27 August speaks of latent genocide when talking
about the influence of the west on Kyrgyzstan:
"Western ideology, under the camouflage of computerization, has invaded all
spheres of Kyrgyz life. In reality, latent genocide of the Kyrgyz nation is
being practiced in the form of so-called family planning lessons which take
place in all secondary schools. These programs are alien to Kyrgyz mentality.
The sex industry and pornography are strongly on the increase in our country.
International financial organizations like the IMF and the World Bank now
control each step taken by the Kyrgyz banking system as well as the planning of
the country's budget. They determine the direction."
In Kazakhstan, more than 5 million children are
sick as a consequence of nuclear, biological, and chemical tests. 60
per cent
of the Kazakh population in the area of Semipalatinsk reveal errors in
their
genetic codes, which are said to have been caused by chronic low
radioactive doses
- according to Inna Klause from Bremen in Germany, on the occasion of
the
international congress "Radiation Protection After the Turn of The
Century",
June 2000, in Bremen.
In the small town of Abay in the Karaganda region
of Kazakhstan more than 100 persons fell sick with viral hepatitis. The
reason
was polluted drinking water. In the eastern region of Kyrgyzstan, a
malaria epidemic
broke out. Refugees from Tajikistan "brought" the malaria. Kyrgyzstan
has taken
in many refugees of the Afghanistan war.
Source: The Times
of Central Asia of Aug./Sept. 2004, www.promedmail.org
of Aug./Sept.
2004
