Rights group raises alarm over ethnic Kazakh who fled Xinjiang

[ad_1] A human rights group is urging Kazakhstan to not deport to China a 23-year-old ethnic Kazakh man who fled from Xinjiang a number of weeks in the past, warning he might face persecution and internment there.

Atajurt, a volunteer group that campaigns for Kazakh victims of oppression in Xinjiang, mentioned Friday it had confirmed that the person, Yerzhanat Abai, has been detained by Kazakh police.

Serikzhan Bilash, who heads the group, mentioned Yerzhanat Abai, a Chinese language nationwide, is being held within the Panfilov Metropolis Detention Heart in Zharkent county, Almaty province, which is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with China.

“He might be secretly escorted to China by Xinjiang’s nationwide safety or Kazakhstan’s Nationwide Safety Bureau at any time, and nobody is aware of his particular scenario. Provided that this matter is made public to the world will the Kazakh authorities be unable to repatriate him,” mentioned Serikzhan.

Serikzhan, who lives in exile in the US, has been a vocal campaigner for the discharge of fellow ethnic Kazakhs from Chinese language camps, the place the ruling Chinese language Communist Get together held an estimated 1.8 million ethnic minority Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and different Muslims in mass incarceration facilities after 2017. Beijing denies the allegations.

“Many younger individuals in Xinjiang are sometimes summoned by the police, or despatched to studying facilities below numerous pretexts, saying they're offering employment alternatives. In actual fact, they're organized to work in factories within the mainland, most of that are chemical factories which might be dangerous to well being, and the wages are even decrease than in Xinjiang,” Serikzhan mentioned.

In accordance with Atajurt, Yerzhanat Abai entered Kazakhstan on March 27 and sought assist from the group within the Kazakh metropolis of Almaty 4 days later. He mentioned he was from Gongliu county, Yili prefecture in Xinjiang, China.