After a burst of violence in southern Kazakhstan in which a Muslim ethnic minority of Chinese origin was attacked has raised a number of anxieties. Kazakhstan, a country that is public about its pride for being tolerant of people of varying backgrounds, has received a multitude of complaints over the brawl; ten people were killed in the battle between Kazakh police and a group of Dungans (also known as Huis). 

On Feb. 14, after videos of the altercation between Dungans and police circulated around social media, a group of men began burning cars and buildings in a group of five small villages in the Zhambyl area, which is about Almaty city. Thousands of Dungans from that region elected to flee across the border and into Kyrgyzstan. 

The executive director of Tian Shan Policy Centre at American University of Central Asia, Kanat Sultanaliev, said in a press statement that “the conflict arose from nothing.”

“It was a usual bribery scene,” Sultanaliev told Al Jazeera, citing local media reports that included witness statements. “A traffic police unit stopped a car with a couple of Dungans in it. They refused to pay, ended up beating the policemen,” he said. “Later, other Kazakh police guys went to the house where the Dungans involved in the initial fight lived and the conflict escalated immediately.” Although they did not confirm or deny the bribery allegation or police actions, authorities did say that the interaction began with a traffic incident. However, Sultanaliev told Al Jazeera that the tension has roots that run much deeper than a single incident. 

The Dungans fled persecution in China during the 19th century and now live in the northern region of Kyrgyzstan and the southern region of Kazakhstan. According to Sultanaliev, they now live in near isolation. “They live in their communities and those communities are in several villages comprised of only Dungans in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. That is why there is some disintegration between them and the local population – Kazakh and Kyrgyz people,” Sultanaliev said. He added that the Dungans are often targets of discriminatory action by police and border officials. 

“The Dungans have been prospering since the Soviet Union collapsed as they adapted quickly to a free market economy. When they cross the border, for example, they are charged more than [other] local people,” Sultanaliev said. “That’s why there was already tension between the Kazakhs and the Dungans and the same can be said about the relationship between the Kyrgyz and the Dungans.”

Following the attacks, the president terminated the jobs of the governor, deputy governor, and police chief who was present, but blamed ‘provocateurs’ for the violence, and stated that anyone inciting violence would be prosecuted. Several civil rights organizations, however, have denounced the government as being at the root of the attacks, and pointed towards decades or more of unrest between groups and discrimination against the Muslim Dungans. 

An organization called Wake Up Kazakhstan told the press that the attacks on the minority group had been allowed due to “a failed state that is not able to effectively manage, guarantee security and ensure the rule of law for all citizens, without exception, both Kazakhs and national minorities.”

Many have expressed concern that authorities have not taken the opportunity to take action against those perpetrating attacks against minorities, which has made many question the integrity of their local police and border officials. Although the government has said that their responses are tailored to the idea that the government is not to assume a position for or against a group for any political reason, but is reportedly unlikely to take a stand against the ethnic violence because it contradicts the narrative that currently supports the administration. 

According to Helene Thibault, an assistant professor of political science at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University, the government usually expresses regret that attacks and ethnic violence occur, but do little to denounce the actions of the perpetrators. Although many attacks are not advertised, Kazakhstan has reportedly seen a number of aggressions towards Chinese minority groups; they usually involve migrant workers and local entrepreneurs. 

Unless the Kazakh government comes up with a solidified approach to ending incidences of police-incited violence and discriminatory behavior by authorities, as well as publicly denouncing attacks perpetrated by general citizens, violence is likely to continue.