Sorry this is long, but I'm just being thorough is all.
My background, I am an American citizen married to a citizen of Kyrgyzstan which is a former Soviet Union state. My wife's sister(who is considered to be Russian even though she was born in Kyrgyzstan) and grandmother currently live in Osh, Kyrgyzstan (Republic of) where they have lived all their lives. This is her last relatives alive and we have been supporting them for several years via sending money through Western Union. My wife’s sister was married to a citizen of Kyrgyzstan (he is considered a Kyrgyz) with which she had a daughter which is now almost three years of age. They divorced and since then he had threatened her life and refused any and all support to them. Since March of 2008 he has been threatening her life telling her she needs to go and live with her sister in America or he will kill her and his daughter. Since he is a prominent individual in the city they reside and is a lawyer there he has a lot of pull with the local authorities and all attempts to resolve this matter with them have actually ended in further abuse towards her sister. The decision was then made that the country is not a safe place for her sister based on the fact that no one there will aid their situation. I have, quite extensively, called all the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia to try and see where they can flee to seek refugee status. However, all the agencies seem to pawn off ownership of this responsibility to other agencies. I contact each place they recommend and they refer me to the other or simply say they don’t help refugees. The UNHCR in Almaty, Kazakhstan was the closest I got to receiving an answer. I don’t feel comfortable uprooting them as I can’t support them on the ‘run’ for an extended period of time until I can figure out what to do with them. I can support them in the United States at my home there but my financial support being sent there is no longer able to help them very much. Is there a way to find out who can take them in for the time being while refugee status is granted to them? Or a better question is, does this situation qualify as refugee status for them? Is there an easier solution to this that I’m simply not seeing? This matter is imminent and they can only stay in their current residence for another month at most, and even that is pushing it. We believe the suffering is of hardships is on the basis of what we believe to be discrimination of nationality since no help exists for them since they are Russian looking and most of the people there are now Kyrgyz people. Their ages are 73 (grandmother), 20 (sister) and 3 (niece). Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I am no expert but this sounds like a law enforcement issue, not a political asylum issue. Unfortunately, that means dealing with Kyrgyz police as a rule, but for a sum of money maybe the police would do something.

And this is your sister-in-law which is not really a close enough relative to easily bring to the US for any reason unless your wife is a US citizen at this point. But why not contact the US Embassy in Bishkek and ask for advice?

If the US can't help, then maybe she'll have to either move to another city or go to Russia. I do know the Kyrgyz people as a rule don't like Russians very much but that would dictate asylum back to Russia, not the USA. I think you have a uphill battle to bring them to the USA under any circumstances unless you've got some serious political pull. You could talk to the immigration staffer for your senator as another source of advice and assistance.

As a immediate crisis response, you might want to hire a Russian body guard (aka mafia guy). If the word get's out your sister is protected by Russian mafia types, that might convince her ex to leave her alone.

Good luck.

I have to agree with seanconneryii here... i think that the refugee process is very complicated and a long process. my family came here as refugees, but it was part of a congressional act. i think that racism/nationalism has to be institutional/genocidal before the US will take people as refugees. unfortunately, matters of a domestic violence nature do not constitute grounds for political asylum, i believe.

you said that you could afford to bring them to the US... could you potentially sponsor them as immigrants? i know that people bring parents etc. over... it would take a while though. i think trying to go to russia is really the only other viable option.

you may want to try to find a lawyer who deals specifically with these kind of refugee issues.

This is a sticky situation. Truth be told, there's probably not a whole lot you can do short of going over there and taking some action yourself.

In the mean time, I'd do as suggested above. If it's really that bad, throw some money at it via a mafia type (which is probably going to be SUPER expensive if he's well-connected already. Going heads up with someone who's already in the club is big.) and if that's not an option, then contact the U.S. embassy in Bishkek and get in touch with someone there who is connected to the security of the embassy (U.S. Marines) or State Department security (various agencies) or even one of the U.S. military reps in the area. Someone there will eventually lend you an ear and once you update them on the story, perhaps they could make a little American presence felt.

Most of the time though, there's not a whole lot that can be done in a foreign country without going through the foreign channels first. We just don't have the rights to do it in their backyard. If it gets super bad, she should go to either the U.S. embassy (or military installation) or the Russian embassy and plead for asylum.

It doesn't sound like she's being persecuted though, only harrassed by an ex-husband. Also, is she a Russian citizen or simply Russian background? Either way, she should petition the Russian govt. as well. Probably first.