Kazakhstan Hands Uzbek Refugee Over To UN

Scene from the funeral of one of the victims of the government crackdown in Andijon (epa) August 15, 2006 -- The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said Kazakhstan had handed over to its representatives a refugee who had fled to the Central Asian nation from neighboring Uzbekistan in 1999.

UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis said the Uzbek national, whose identity she did not reveal, would be immediately resettled to an undisclosed country. The man had been detained in June after Uzbek authorities had demanded his extradition.

Pagonis said the UNHCR feared the life of the refugee would be in danger if he were returned to Uzbekistan.

Kyrgyzstan on August 9 extradited to Uzbekistan four UN refugees and one asylum seeker who were wanted in their home country for their alleged participation in antigovernment protests in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005.

Official accounts say 187 people were killed during the unrest and the subsequent military crackdown.

(Reuters)