Azattyq Asia is RFE/RL's Russian unit covering Central Asia.
Police in Kyrgyzstan are conducting raids targeting the women who wear the niqab, a face veil that is banned in the Muslim-majority country. Police have issued $230 fines to dozens of women, while hundreds of others were given warnings for violating the ban.
Kyrgyzstan has removed two more statues of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin and ditched his name from many streets and schools as the country continues to shed its Soviet legacy. A Russian lawmaker, meanwhile, urged Moscow to punish Kyrgyzstan for its “unfriendly action.”
In many families in Central Asia, corporal punishment is not only common, it is the norm. Slaps for poor grades, ear-pulls for disobedience, beatings "to instill discipline" -- these all remain embedded in the parenting culture.
Central Asian migrants in Russia face a new wave of crackdown, entry denials, and deportation as Moscow reported a 20 percent increase in the number of expulsions in comparison to 2024.
Russia continues to recruit Central Asian migrants and convicts to fill the ranks of its depleting armed forces in Ukraine. Russian authorities use various methods -- from enticements to coercion -- to enlist Central Asians to the Kremlin's ongoing war.
In Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, teenage girls are commonly forced to marry before reaching adulthood, in spite of laws setting the minimum age of marriage at 18. RFE/RL spoke to two teenagers who were coerced into marriage against their will, forcing them to give up their educations.
In spite of international laws banning marriage for minors, girls in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are commonly forced to marry as young teens. One Tajik woman described leaving school at 17 to work for her husband's family, while a young Kyrgyz woman said she was kidnapped by her suitor at just 16.
