US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has commended Kazakhstan for its assisting refugees from China and for its global leadership in the repatriation of Kazakh citizens who had joined terrorist groups in Syria, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has commended Kazakhstan for its assisting refugees from China and for its global leadership in the repatriation of Kazakh citizens who had joined terrorist groups in Syria, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Friday.Both issues were on the agenda of Pompeo's meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi in Washington on Thursday.
"The Secretary discussed the ongoing human rights crisis in Xinjiang with the Foreign Minister and welcomed Kazakhstan's actions to ensure the safety of those who have fled China seeking refuge," the statement said.
Last year, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reported that China held large number of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in political "reeducation camps" in the Xinjiang region under the pretext of countering terrorism and religious extremism without charging or trying them. The Chinese foreign ministry has rejected the claims as unfounded and untrue.
Ortagus said that Pompeo also underscored during his talks with Tileuberdi "the importance of Kazakhstan's global leadership in the repatriation and reintegration of its citizens from Syria, and he praised steps Kazakhstan has taken to share its experience with other nations."
In the aftermath of the defeat of the Islamic State (banned in Russia), the United States has been urged European and other countries to take back thousands of their citizens who had joined the terrorist group and were captured by US allies in Syria and Iraq.
In addition, Ortagus said Pompeo commended Kazakhstan's support for a lasting peace in Afghanistan, welcomed the growing bilateral commercial ties and the upcoming signing of an Open Skies civil aviation agreement and encouraged the country to implement economic reforms and strengthen human rights protections.
