UN commissioner urges asylum for refugees News
UN commissioner urges asylum for refugees

[JURIST] New United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres [Wikipedia profile] Monday urged countries to grant asylum to refugees rather than seal borders because of fears of terrorism. His call came at the end of a three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan [press release] by assistant high commissioner Kamel Morjane, and one week after that nation announced plans to deport a group of 29 Uzbek asylum seekers [JURIST report] despite UN contentions that the group might qualify as refugees under the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 [PDF]. More than 500 Uzbeks fled to Kyrgyzstan after troops shot into crowds of protestors to put down a feared uprising last month. Reuters has more.