Kazakhstan denies EU talks on migrant detention centres

Kazakhstan has denied reports that it is holding negotiations with the European Union on hosting detention centres for rejected asylum seekers.

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yerlan Zhetybayev said that media reports suggesting that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are being considered by Brussels as possible locations for such facilities are untrue, Caliber.Az reports, citing Kazakh media.

Zhetybayev clarified that the readmission agreement currently under discussion relates solely to the return of Kazakhstan’s own citizens who are illegally residing abroad.

The agreement, he said, provides for an obligation to accept back Kazakh nationals who have left the country in violation of migration regulations.

By Vafa Guliyeva