The Jewish Agency for Israel has brought 12 Jews from the conflict-torn former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan to Israel. The twelve were flown to Tel Aviv on Sunday and welcomed at a ceremony at the Jewish Agency for Israel's Board of Governors assembly on Monday, alongside 650 other new immigrants. They were immediately made Israeli citizens.
Fewer than 70 Jews are thought to live in southern Kyrgyzstan. Most of the country's estimated 1,500 Jews reside in the capital Bishkek. To date, no Jews are believed to have been harmed in the ethnic violence, which has cost the life of more than 2,000 people. An estimated 40,000 people have been displaced in fighting between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz that began earlier this month in the country's south.
