Launched in June, the appeal would enable aid agencies to assist over a six-month period some 300,000 people who have been internally displaced by the conflict that erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan earlier that month, and another 765,000 people who have been affected by the crisis.

The clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks led to a number of deaths and injuries, as well as widespread arson, sexual violence, looting of property and destruction of infrastructure.

“The needs are very great. We can address those needs and support the Interim Government and the victims in this crisis, to which any country would struggle to respond single-handedly. But we can do little without the necessary resources,” the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes had stated during the launch of the appeal.

Aid agencies, through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), are working on a funding strategy to try and increase donor support for the appeal, which covers assistance in areas such as food and nutrition, water and sanitation, health, education, and shelter.

OCHA also stated in a humanitarian bulletin that the situation in the Central Asian nation remains tense in the southern provinces of Osh and Jalalabad.

There are also concerns over reports of serious human rights abuses in the country's south, including abuse of power, arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment and extortion by law enforcement officials.

It has also been reported that persons detained are coerced to sign false confessions and that false evidence is used during search operations, as well as unconfirmed allegations of secret detention facilities.

Last month UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said security forces in southern Kyrgyzstan are responsible for human rights violations, ranging from arbitrary detention to torture, threatening the fragile peace in the area.

She added that her staff in Kyrgyzstan has received information suggesting that local authorities are “routinely turning a blind eye” to the illegal arrests, torture and ill-treatment of detainees which result in forced confessions. In addition, the lawyers and families of victims, as well as human rights defenders, are also being threatened and intimidated.

The situation spotlights the need for continued monitoring of the human rights situation, especially in the country's south, said Ms. Pillay, who called for a “thorough international, independent and impartial investigation” into the June violence.