UN refugee agency ‘deplores’ forced return of asylum seeker by Kazakhstan

The United Nations refugee agency today deplored the forced return by Kazakhstan of an asylum seeker from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, saying that Kazakh authorities had also ignored a written communication from the UN agency regarding the case sent at the start of this month.

Kadyrov Dastan Kurmanbekovich, a prominent Kyrgyz opposition figure who was in detention in the Kazakh capital Almaty, was extradited to Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday 7 March, despite having lodged an asylum request with the authorities of Kazakhstan, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

“The extradition was carried out in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, or forced return, one of the basic refugee principles enshrined in the 1951 UN refugee convention, to which Kazakhstan is a State Party,” UNHCR Spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told reporters in Geneva.

“The principle of non-refoulement prohibits States from returning a refugee or asylum seeker to territories where there is a risk that his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”

This principle prevails over any bilateral or multilateral extradition agreements, said UNHCR, which promotes the voluntary return of refugees to the country of origin if the circumstances permit repatriation in safety and dignity and monitors the situation of returnees.