Central Asian Diasporas in US Increasingly Organized and Active

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 5 – Compared to the attention the Ukrainian, Armenian, and Baltic diasporas in the US received, the smaller and newer diasporas of the five Central Asian countries still attract relatively little, although their numbers and activities, including political and lobbying efforts are growing, Asia Today reports.

            As is true of other diaspora groups, the US census shows far fewer members of these groups than their leaders claim, the result of partial assimilation and the possibility that some of the members of these groups are in the US illegally, the regional news agency says (asia-today.news/05122025/7329/).

            But they are clearly growing in size and increasingly forming their own organizations to take part in broader public life, including political life, in the United States, Asia today says; and consequently, they already deserve more attention from scholars and activists than they have received.

The Uzbek diaspora is the largest. Its leaders estimate that there are now as many as 250,000 ethnic Uzbeks in the US, far more than recent census have shown. They have two important organizations, and they have begun to attract the attention of some American politicians, including the newly elected mayor of New York city.

There are approximately 50,000 Kyrgyz in the US, most of whom are concentrated in major cities, where they have formed a Kyrgyz Social Center to support community activities and participate in public life. Therea re some 100,000 Kazakhs, who are also concentrated in major cities.

The Tajik diaspora in the US is much smaller, approximately six thousand in all, but it has created two broad organizations, the Tajik Community in the USA and the Tajik American cultural Association (TACA). The Turkmen diaspora is very small and maintains close ties with the Turkmenistan embassy in Washington.