By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
VAN, Turkey – On September 12, authorities in the Turkish town of Van delivered 24 Uzbek refugees and asylum seekers to a group of unidentified officials in Iran, where they face death threats and forcible deportation to Uzbekistan.
The refugees fled Uzbekistan for Tajikistan in the 1990s to escape religious persecution from the Uzbek government. After moving to Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the refugees left in 2001 following the US led invasion, and moved to Iran. There, they were recognized as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2007, the group fled to Turkey after the Iranian government threatened to forcibly deport them to Uzbekistan. In Turkey, they were again recognized as refugees under the UNHCR.
According to Amnesty International, Turkish security services deceived the refugees, who were not aware that the government was planning to return them to Iran. The Turkish security services told the refugees that they were invited to the Van General Directorate of Security where Turkish authorities would distribute educational materials to their children. However, upon arriving at the station, they were forced to board a bus and were transported a deserted area near the Iranian border. The Turkish security agents who transported the refugees are alleged to have told them “We don’t need you here” as they forced them to enter Iran.
According to Amnesty International, Turkey has violated international law by deporting refugees and asylum seekers to places where their lives could be in danger. There is a concern that the refugees, if forcibly returned to Uzbekistan, will face torture and other ill-treatment. In November 2007, the UN Committee against Torture concluded a study documenting the incommunicado detention, torture, and other ill-treatment of refugees and asylum seekers that were forcibly returned to Uzbekistan. The refugees often face unfair trials with evidence based on confessions extracted under torture and are sentenced to long prison terms where they are held under cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions.
Amnesty International is urging people to petition the Iranian government to immediately release all 24 Uzbek refugees and to prevent their deportation to Uzbekistan.
For more information, please see:
Central Asian News – Turkey Expels Uzbek Refugees to Iran– 19 September 2008
Amnesty International – Turkey: Forcible Return – 18 September 2008
Amnesty International – Iran: 24 Uzbekistani Nationals Including Children – 17 September 2008 – 17 September 2008
