The United Nations said on Monday it wanted to move hundreds of Uzbek refugees to third countries from camps in Kyrgyzstan because there were fears Uzbekistan might try to snatch them and take them home by force. More than 500 Uzbeks fled to Kyrgyzstan after troops shot into a crowd to put down an uprising last month. More than 400 refugees are now stranded in a refugee camp in Sasyk in the south of the country, according to Reuters. Following the forced deportation of four Uzbeks by Kyrgyzstan, the U.N. and human rights bodies have voiced fears that remaining asylum seekers might also be returned. U.N. Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Kamel Morjane said on Monday that there were reports that Uzbek security officers dressed in civilian clothes had often been seen near the refugee camp in Sasyk. "We have heard some rumors that the Uzbeks might even take these people back. I hope it is not true," Morjane told a news conference. "We'll do our best, as the UNHCR, to take a maximum of people outside. The situation is not easy," Morjane said at the end of a three-day mission to Kyrgyzstan.
