Kazakhstan has sent back to China an ethnic Uighur who fled the country's restive Xinjiang region following riots, raising fears that he may be imprisoned or tortured.
"Ershidin Israil was extradited to the People's Republic of China on May 30," Kazakh foreign ministry spokesman Ilyas Omarov said on Tuesday.
Israil, 38, a former geography teacher who holds a Chinese passport, fled China in the aftermath of the 2009 deadly riots in the restive Xinjiang region where Muslim Uighurs clashed with China's majority Han ethnic group.
Last June Israil was arrested on terrorism charges in Kazakhstan's largest city of Almaty following a request from Interpol, Omarov said.
At the time of his arrest, he was considered a refugee by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and had officially applied for a refugee status in Kazakhstan.
"Taking into consideration Israil's confession that he took part in a terrorist act in July 1997… and considering his possible complicity in preparing a terrorist act in 2009, the commission turned down his request for
refugee status," Omarov said.
The Kazakh Supreme Court upheld the government's decision on May 25, he added. UNHCR has also revoked his refugee status, saying he was not eligible for international refugee protection.
The exiled World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said Israil had fled Xinjiang on foot in 2009 after providing information to Radio Free Asia about the death of another Uighur man.
"The WUC harshly condemns Mr. Israil's extradition and is extremely worried about his fate," the exile group said on its Web site.
"Uyghurs who have been extradited to China in the past, were detained, imprisoned, sentenced, tortured, executed or disappeared after their return to China and the WUC believes that he will face detention and torture," it said.
