Kyrgyzstan May Deport Uzbek Refugees

Dozens of Uzbek refugees living in Kyrgyzstan are set to lose their status this month and will likely be deported back to Uzbekistan, UzNews.net reports. The decision by the Kyrgyz Migration and Employment Committee to revoke their refugee certificates will go into effect on December 15.

Kyrgyz authorities may have been pressurized into the politically sensitive decision by Uzbekistan at recent bilateral meetings, the opposition news site believes.

The Migration and Employment Committee had initially intended to deport the Uzbeks last August. The refugees had been in Kyrgyzstan for more than a year and no clear indication existed that the group would face severe threats to their lives if they returned to Uzbekistan, the Committee said.

Human rights groups' protests forced the Committee to extend the refugees' permits until December 15. Despite pledges from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to assist, the refugees' fate remains unclear, Uznews.net added.

"I am sorry, but empty promises bother us more than unfulfilled opportunities because in the middle of December we will have absolutely no rights," said one refugee, whose name was not given.