On 28-29 July 2005, UNHCR structures in Kyrgyzstan, in violation of all procedures and norms of international law and decisions of UNO, carried out a so-called humanitarian evacuation from the territory of Kyrgyzstan of some 440 citizens of Uzbekistan, which crossed the border during the tragic events in Andijan on 12-13 May and stayed on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.

All preparatory work and the action itself were held in the conditions of secrecy, with the public and the media not allowed to them.

The country where the above said citizens of Uzbekistan were taken has not been named officially and remains unknown until now.

In this regards, the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan considers it necessary to state the following.

The Uzbek side sees no grounds for holding such an action, in the first place, because the number of moved citizens of Uzbekistan on the territory of Kyrgyzstan had shown no threat to security and destabilization of the situation in the border regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Over the period since 13 May, their number has not increased but even decreased by tens of people, which returned to their homes in Andijan and adjacent districts.

The Uzbek authorities have made no accusations towards these persons; they were not subject to persecution and pressure.

The authorities of Uzbekistan have conducted and are conducting negotiations with the Kyrgyz side on giving out of 29 Uzbek citizens, which are accused of gross and extremely gross crimes before and during the tragic events in Andijan.

Secondly, in the process of the so-called humanitarian evacuation of the citizens of Uzbekistan, basic principles and conditions of the famous international norms, namely UNO Convention of 1951 on the status of refugees and the protocol to it of 1967 were violated.

Neither the head of the state of Kyrgyzstan, nor other country ready to accept these people and provide jobs, allowances, accommodation and other conditions to them made any statements or appeals to the UNHCR or have been announced in the media.

Today, the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan has all grounds to state that, as official figures of Kyrgyzstan state, foreign forces showed an ?unprecedented pressure? on the leadership and law-enforcement organs of the country, in particular, on the issue of extradition of persons under investigation, which in itself is contrary to principles of the adopted international documents on determining the status of refugees.

The Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan considers all this as an inadmissible rude interference of foreign forces in the attempt to play the card of the so-called ?Uzbek refugees? and to continue the unannounced information attack, which, like the ?Andijan operation? itself, was planned before the tragic events of 13 May in Andijan.

The Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan considers any deviation from the accepted international norms and demonstration of political bias absolutely inadmissible in such a responsible matter as the refugee issue, which has serious consequences.