Social unrest in the suburbs of Almaty and other overpopulated cities are not new, but the widespread discontent among the slum dwellers of poor outskirts has drowned in triumphant reports of macroeconomic achievements. In the years of economic crisis, hundreds of destitute families from rural areas settled in the suburbs of Almaty, hoping to get some subsistence. Having no money to buy a proper dwelling, many of them illegally appropriated land plots and built slum houses using available cheap construction materials. Over the last fifteen years, 28 settlements consisting mainly of uninhabitable adobe houses appeared around Almaty, where only five schools were available for children from these disadvantaged families. For more than a decade, people got accustomed to living in ghettos without running water, electricity, schools or hospitals.

But the high-handed decision of the Almaty city government to bulldoze the slums in Shanyrak was the last straw that filled the cup of patience. When in the morning of July 14 a police unit and executives from the city court came to urge people to leave their homes, a violent riot broke out. Residents barricaded the streets and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the policemen. When it was clear that the police was unable to cope with the outraged crowd, estimated at 1,500 people, they brought in extra reinforcements equipped with helmets, bullet-proof jackets and shields. But the ungovernable crowd burned down a fire-engine brought to the scene of the clash and police cars. Four policemen were taken hostage by vandalizing residents; later three of them were released, but one of the hostages was doused with petrol and set on fire. Heavily burned, he was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he his condition is still critical.

The mass violence in Shanyrak was the first manifestation of long-brewing public protests against the neglect of the social needs of the blighted suburbs, replete with a host of unresolved problems of employment, medical care, education and social equality. It also reveals the profound imperfection of the judicial system and red-tape among the governing bodies of Kazakhstan. The land plots in Shanyrak residential area have been seized illegally by migrants from rural districts since 1993. But the executive bodies were arguing for years over who in the government was in charge of these lands. The sudden decision of the Almaty city government to evict the squatters from their lands sparked these riots. This time police units were wise enough to refrain from using firearms to quell the unrest, and tragic mistakes such as those once committed by Kyrgyz law-enforcement bodies were avoided.

At the same time, the clashes in Shanyrak assumed an unprecedented scale, and about 600 policemen were needed to restore the order in the troubled area. On July 16, the city mayor Imangaly Tasmaganbetov held an emergency meeting behind closed doors. According to the Almaty police chief, fifteen policemen were injured during the rioting, and the authorities filed a lawsuit against the protesters who committed acts of vandalism. It is likely that some squatters will be brought to trial as the scene of the rioting was videotaped by the police. It is also likely that some members of the city government will leave their posts following this incident, highlighted by the media. On the other hand, the mainstream opposition forces and non-government organizations try to use the growing discontent among the socially marginalized section of the population as a stalking horse to advance their own interests and to raise the profile of their leaders.

But the real danger to the upper echelons of power comes not from politically inert slum dwellers. The real threat to the governing system is posed by empty promises of the government to raise the living standards for all citizens and to provide them with cheap housing. Although housing construction is gathering pace in all regions of Kazakhstan, its scale is far short from meeting the huge demand resulting from the massive migration of people to urban areas. Experts believe that to ensure a long-term solution of the problem, Kazakhstan must adopt a law to regulate internal migration. But the most vital issue remains the eradication of corruption in government offices which reduces all good intentions and efforts.