A young Kazakh who fled Xinjiang to Kazakhstan was recently arrested by local police and is currently being detained in a city on the China-Kazakhstan border. Local human rights groups have issued an urgent warning, fearing he will be "silently extradited" to China and face the risk of detention.
The Kazakh human rights organization Atajurt Volunteer Organization informed this station on Friday (May 16) that the organization contacted a Kazakh youth named Yerzhanat Abai at the end of March this year, claiming to be from Gongliu County, Ili Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The man, 23 years old, was born on April 11, 2002. He entered Kazakhstan on March 27, 2025, and went to the organization for help four days later.
The organization stated that Yeleganat initially refused to disclose his identity due to concerns about his personal safety, and only briefly described his situation. According to founder Serikzhan Bilash:
"On March 31, during a visit to the organization's office in Almaty, Yelganat explicitly stated that he was concerned about his personal safety and did not want his identity disclosed for the time being. He only briefly stated his situation in front of the camera. He also stated that his situation would only be made public if he was arrested by the police and faced the risk of being deported to China. Yelganat said that if he were deported to China, he might be in danger of being detained in a 'concentration camp.'"
A young man who fled for help lost contact and may have been secretly transferred
Earlier this week, the organization received notification from Yeleganat's friends that he had been detained by Kazakh police. Atajurt subsequently confirmed his disappearance and formally activated the emergency human rights assistance mechanism, publicly announcing his identity to draw international attention.
Serkjian said Yeleganat is currently being held in the Panfilov Detention Center in Zharkent County, Almaty Oblast, Kazakhstan, about 40 kilometers from the Khorgos Port in Xinjiang.
"He could very well be secretly escorted to China by Xinjiang's national security bureau or Kazakhstan's National Security Bureau at any time. No one knows his specific situation. Only by making this matter public to the world can the Kazakhstan government be prevented from deporting him."
The length of Yeleganat's detention, the legal basis, and the procedures are unclear, and Kazakhstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs has yet to respond. Calls to the Chinese Consulate General in Almaty were unsuccessful.
The shadow of Xinjiang's "re-education" continues to strengthen border controls
The Kazakhs are one of Xinjiang's major ethnic minorities, sharing extensive ethnic and linguistic ties with Kazakhstan. In the past, many Xinjiang Kazakhs frequently visited their relatives in Kazakhstan. However, in recent years, China's tightening of border controls has resulted in many of these individuals losing contact, being arrested, forced into "transformation" education, or even being detained.
Since 2017, the Atajurt Volunteer Organization has been recording and publicizing cases of disappearance, detention and persecution of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The testimonies it has collected have been cited as investigation materials by multiple international organizations.
According to reports from the United Nations and several human rights organizations, since 2017, the Chinese government has established numerous "vocational skills education and training centers" in Xinjiang under the guise of "de-extremism," detaining Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim ethnic minorities for political indoctrination, linguistic assimilation, and forced labor. Although the Chinese government denies the existence of a "concentration camp system," the international community widely questions its claims.
Sai Erkejian stated that even though international attention has diminished, the persecution by Xinjiang authorities has not stopped:
"Many young people in Xinjiang are frequently summoned by police for questioning, or sent to study centers under various pretexts, ostensibly to provide them with job opportunities. In reality, they are being arranged to work in factories in mainland China, mostly in hazardous chemical plants, where the wages are even lower than in Xinjiang."
Yerken, a Kazakh resident from Yili, Xinjiang, also confirmed to this station that many young Kazakhs have tried to flee China but have encountered numerous restrictions:
"Because the situation in Xinjiang is very unstable, people often flee here. Although China and Kazakhstan have signed a visa exemption agreement, Kazakhs in China cannot obtain passports to travel abroad, and those who do have passports will have them confiscated by the police. But Han Chinese can apply for passports to travel abroad."
Central Asia and China work closely together as repatriation risks surge
In recent years, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries have become increasingly economically dependent on China and have generally adopted a low-key or repressive approach to the refugee problem from Xinjiang. Numerous cases have shown that some refugees have been "informally extradited" back to China without due process.
Since 2017, several Kazakhs in Xinjiang have fled to Kazakhstan, only to be arrested and face deportation. For example, in 2018, Kayisha Akhan, a teacher at an "education camp" in Gongliu County, Xinjiang, fled to Kazakhstan; in 2019, she received a refugee certificate from the Kazakhstan Immigration Service. On October 1, 2019, Hastier Mushakhan and Muragel Alimu from Emin County, Yili County, Xinjiang, fled to Kazakhstan.
Although some cases have avoided forced deportation due to the intervention of international public opinion, more people remain trapped in a legal vacuum.
The UN Committee against Torture and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees have repeatedly urged the Kazakh government to comply with international human rights treaties and prevent the deportation of individuals to countries where they may face torture and persecution without due process safeguards.
Kazakh human rights organizations called on the Kazakh government to immediately disclose the whereabouts of Yeleganat Abbai and fulfill its international obligations in accordance with the Convention against Torture and the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, ensure that he is not deported, and provide him with necessary legal protection and asylum procedures.
