Yerzhan Amirkhanov is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Kazakh Service.
Floodwaters in the western Kazakh city of Oral are forcing residents to move to safer ground. Many complain official rescue efforts have been disorganized with little information provided. Widespread flooding in the Central Asian country has led to the evacuation of nearly 19,000 people.
Protests by unemployed residents of Mangystau have spotlighted systemic problems in a province that accounts for around a quarter of Kazakhstan’s oil production. RFE/RL spent several days in the village of Zhetybai to understand the demands of an increasingly restive population.
