ALMATY -- The wives of two young Uzbek asylum seekers face imminent deportation from Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
A court in Almaty ruled on February 8 that Dildora Amirkulova and Shakhnoza Muratova should be deported to Uzbekistan by February 13.
Amirkulova and Muratova are married to two brothers -- Sunatulla and Sukhrob Kuldashev -- who have been in jail in Almaty since January 25. Authorities in Kazakhstan said the two men are on a wanted list in Uzbekistan on unclear charges and that their passports are missing.
The two couples came last year to Kazakhstan, where Sunatulla, 25, and Sukhrob, 22, sought asylum.
Their wives told RFE/RL that the men had been detained by Uzbek police last April and questioned about the whereabouts of their eldest brother, Oibek.
Oibek Kuldashev is among a group of 29 Uzbek asylum seekers detained by Kazakh authorities last June at the request of Tashkent.
Uzbekistan has officially asked Kazakhstan to extradite the 29, all men described by Tashkent as Islamic extremists. Kazakh authorities denied the Uzbeks refugee status. Their fate has not been decided yet.
Amirkulova told RFE/RL that an officer of Almaty's Turksib District police had tricked her and Muratova.
She said they were invited to the Turksib District Interior Affairs department to obtain their confiscated passports. But instead, she said, they were brought to court, where the judge quickly discussed their case and issued the deportation ruling.
The two women said that they cannot leave Kazakhstan while their husbands are still in jail and no decision has been made regarding their fate. They said they are concerned that their husbands will face jail and torture if they return to Uzbekistan.
Read in Russian here
A court in Almaty ruled on February 8 that Dildora Amirkulova and Shakhnoza Muratova should be deported to Uzbekistan by February 13.
Amirkulova and Muratova are married to two brothers -- Sunatulla and Sukhrob Kuldashev -- who have been in jail in Almaty since January 25. Authorities in Kazakhstan said the two men are on a wanted list in Uzbekistan on unclear charges and that their passports are missing.
The two couples came last year to Kazakhstan, where Sunatulla, 25, and Sukhrob, 22, sought asylum.
Their wives told RFE/RL that the men had been detained by Uzbek police last April and questioned about the whereabouts of their eldest brother, Oibek.
Oibek Kuldashev is among a group of 29 Uzbek asylum seekers detained by Kazakh authorities last June at the request of Tashkent.
Uzbekistan has officially asked Kazakhstan to extradite the 29, all men described by Tashkent as Islamic extremists. Kazakh authorities denied the Uzbeks refugee status. Their fate has not been decided yet.
Amirkulova told RFE/RL that an officer of Almaty's Turksib District police had tricked her and Muratova.
She said they were invited to the Turksib District Interior Affairs department to obtain their confiscated passports. But instead, she said, they were brought to court, where the judge quickly discussed their case and issued the deportation ruling.
The two women said that they cannot leave Kazakhstan while their husbands are still in jail and no decision has been made regarding their fate. They said they are concerned that their husbands will face jail and torture if they return to Uzbekistan.
Read in Russian here