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EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Kyrgyzstan: Gangs Govern Life in Many Kyrgyz Schools

EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Kyrgyzstan: Gangs Govern Life in Many Kyrgyz Schools: "Organized crime is making inroads into Kyrgyz schools. This trend is forcing students like Turgunbek, a 16 year old at Bishkek’s School Number 67, to worry just as much about carving out a safe spot in the school’s pecking order as he does about his studies.

The social order at some schools in the Kyrgyz capital has come to resemble that which exists in prisons. Students not only have to master the basics of reading writing and arithmetic, they must also develop a skill for astute observation in order to identify who is important and who is not. Those on the lowest rung of the gang ladder, dubbed bratishki, or followers, perform favors in exchange for power and protection from a bratyan, or an older brother. A few kingpins maintain control over a certain territory or social group. These school networks often have connections, according to Turgunbek and other observers, to older thieves-in-law - members of adult gangs and mafia networks who monitor criminal activity in the neighborhood and receive a cut from lesser crooks.

Over the past decade, youth gangs have achieved alarming levels of sophistication and complexity in schools throughout Kyrgyzstan. 'Earlier, if you had a problem with someone, you could just solve it man to man,' says Turgunbek. 'But now everything is done with a crowd. Friends are everything.'"

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