Ukraine Deports Uzbeks

Ukraine recently detained 10 Uzbeks in the Crimea at the request of the Uzbek government, which claims they were involved in the Andijon uprising.

Two Moscow-based human rights organizations — Memorial and Grazhdanskoye Sodeistviye — issued a press release on 13 February saying that 11 Uzbeks were detained in Crimea on 7 February. The release contained their names.

The press release said Uzbek authorities requested the extradition of the 11 people because of their alleged involvement in the Andijon events, in which hundreds were reportedly killed.

The two organizations referred to Uzbek political refugees in Ukraine and said three people out of 11 were eyewitnesses to the Andijon events, though the others had come to Ukraine earlier.

If one reads the rest of the story, the only thing clear about the number and status of those detained is that there are conflicting reports. The UNHCR says that the detained Uzbeks had applied for refugee status and that they are entitled to appeals of their detention under Ukrainian law.

They certainly appear not to have gotten to exercise that right as Ukraine has deported them to Uzbekistan.

I’m normally allergic to engaging in speculation of how resource interests motivate government decisions, though I know they certainly do. In this case, I cannot help but think that the Ukrainian government’s decisions were designed to put a smile on the faces of Uzbek officials if the Uzbeks in question were in fact detained and deported at the request of the Uzbek government. After all, Ukraine needs gas from Central Asia and Turkmenistan is proving itself to not be the kind of supplier one wants to rely too heavily on. And Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has announced it is taking steps to ramp up exports.