![]() This means that a lot of people living outside Kazakhstan had now lost contact with their families back in their country. On 5th January 2022, president Tokayev declared a state of emergency in Kazakhstan, and internet services were suspended. Since the start of riots on 2nd January 2020, the country has been in extreme unrest. ![]() Even according to Aiya “The lack of freedom of speech is one of the main issues in Kazakhstan.” These are just some cases that came to light about the injustice happening in Kazakhstan. On 22 June 2020, Alnur Ilyashev a Kazakh human rights activist was charged and arrested for posting 3 social media posts criticizing the government. Aiya stated, “I would receive threats, I would be followed and stalked, and I could easily be arrested, if not even worse.” On 6th June 2020, a peaceful protest in Almaty resulted in hundreds of people being arrested. When asked if Aiya wanted to keep her identity anonymous she said she would prefer that. If someone were to protest the government or even post anything on social media against the government, they would be arrested and would get prison time. Aiya called it “The last straw, which then led to the protests because, at that point, regular people could not afford the necessities for normal living.” According to her what slowly pushed the people of Kazakhstan to take this route was “low wages, a highly corrupt government, ongoing authoritarianism, human rights violations like lack of freedom of speech and peaceful protesting, frequent police brutality, invalid and unfair elections and more.” She says that once she started to hear about all the oppression, she “hit a big cognitive dissonance.”Īs mentioned before, the increase in gas prices was a push for the people to start rioting and by the time this new rule came to be, people were already tired. I do have to mention that I recognize that I grew up with several privileges though, thanks to which I never really faced such serious issues.” When Aiya reached her teenage years, she realized the kind of oppression her people were facing. When asked about any problematic experience she might have encountered as a kid she replied, “I did not experience anything problematic, at least I don’t have memories of anything like that. She visits her country from time to time.Īiya had stayed in Kazakhstan for 11 years before she moved out and traveled the world with her parents. Many of her family members still reside there. She had been living outside Kazakhstan for some time now due to her parent’s job. I had the opportunity to interview a friend of mine from Kazakhstan, Aiya (Name changed for the safety of the interviewee). While this is what started the riots, one can only call it a push due to years of oppression, corrupt government, and years of human rights violations that the Kazakh people had faced. ![]() The riots on 2nd January started because the government announced that the gas price would be going up which riled up the population to the core. Transportation is cheap by taxis and even public transports due to the low gas prices and therefore a lot of people make a living out of driving part-time taxis and depend heavily on transport for their day-to-day activity. The prices for gas/oil are relatively low in this country compared to many others. Kazakhstan is best known for its abundance of oil and other natural resources. On the evening of January 2nd, 2022, the unrest in Kazakhstan began leaving a lot of people in and outside Kazakhstan clueless of what is to come shortly.
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