Students of Tashkent State Technical University have been evicted from a student dormitory built under a public-private partnership at the university, Kun.uz reported.

The students had been living there and had paid for their accommodation. However, on Oct. 5, they were told to vacate the dormitory, and on the evening of Oct. 6, around 300 students were evicted from the building. Female students were among those left without accommodation.

“We come from provinces to study here. We paid for the dormitory in advance. But yesterday we were told to vacate it within one day. On Oct. 6, all the students were evicted. We were told that the dormitory had been established under a public-private partnership but had not yet obtained a license. When we asked where we were supposed to go after paying for accommodation, they told us, ‘We were given orders from above.’

“Around 300 students were evicted late in the evening. The university vice rector, a prosecutor’s office official and a district inspector came and told us that we had to leave the dormitory. We asked, ‘We have nowhere to go. Are we supposed to sleep on the street?’ But no clear solution was offered. Those who had money went to hostels, while those who had acquaintances went to stay with them. There are girls among us — where are they supposed to go at night?

“We paid for our accommodation. If the dormitory did not have a license, why was this only discovered after students had been accommodated and charged for their rooms? Where are we supposed to live now, and what will happen to the money we paid?

“We tried to resolve the issue through the Ministry of Higher Education. But they said they could not resolve it and that, if the dormitory had no license, the matter should be handled by law enforcement agencies. We still do not know where to go now,” the students said.

The Ministry of Education and Science said the student residence in the Student Campus in Tashkent, built under a public-private partnership with Tashkent State Technical University, has not yet been officially commissioned.

The ministry said the property's cadastral documents had not yet been completed and the necessary permits for its use had not been obtained. As a result, students could not legally be accommodated there.

Under the existing procedure, students seeking accommodation in a student residence must apply through Public Services Centers or the my.gov.uz portal and, after receiving a referral in accordance with the established procedure, can be accommodated in a residence.

However, the ministry said it had found that an entrepreneur had accommodated some students at the facility without following the required procedure and without the necessary referrals.

It also found that students from other higher education institutions, rather than Tashkent State Technical University, had been accommodated at the facility.

After the situation was discovered, all students were removed from the building to ensure their safety and provide them with the necessary conditions, the ministry said. They were temporarily accommodated in available student residences belonging to Tashkent State Technical University. Students from other higher education institutions were returned to their respective institutions through the relevant officials.

Foreign students also cannot be accommodated at a facility that has not been officially commissioned without the required permits. They were therefore also removed from the building as part of the safety measures.

Work is currently underway to complete the dormitory's cadastral documentation and obtain the necessary permits for its use. The hot-water and heating systems at the facility are also not yet fully operational.

The ministry stressed that the facility has not yet held an official opening ceremony. Construction was not fully completed within the scheduled timeframe, so the facility was not put into operation during the opening events held in August.

Once all required documents have been completed and the necessary permits obtained, the facility will be commissioned in accordance with established procedures, and students will be accommodated under the applicable rules.

The ministry also said that all payments previously collected from students accommodated at the facility had been fully refunded by the entrepreneur.

It added that neither the university nor the ministry had been aware in advance that the entrepreneur had accommodated students at the facility without following the established procedure. Once the situation was identified, appropriate measures were taken to protect the students' safety and legal interests.