The European Union is providing over 270,000 EUR in humanitarian funding in response to the armed conflict that marred the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in mid-September, according to the European Union Delegation to Tajikistan.

The aid will contribute to support about 12,000 people in some of the worst affected areas in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken province and in Tajikistan’s Sughd province, Rasht valley and Lakhsh district.

The EU funding reportedly supports the Red Crescent Society of Kyrgyzstan’s (RCSK) and the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST) in distributing much-needed cash grants to enable affected families in both countries – especially those who lost their homes. Other assistance, including health and hygiene promotion activities, hygiene products and psychological support, will also be provided.

The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), as well as the Programmatic Partnership with IFRC to provide effective and adapted local response to communities in need.

Some 100 people were killed and over 150,000 forced to flee their homes in several districts along the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan after a dispute over the lack of access to water, roads and pastures escalated into armed conflict along the contentious border on September 14.  Two days of heavy clashes between Kyrgyz and Tajik troops also damaged hundreds of houses, public facilities and infrastructure, causing many to lose their homes, belongings, food supplies and sources of livelihoods.

It is to be noted that many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.  The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.