American couple arrested at Schiphol Airport, accused of ‘trafficking’ Kazakh family to seek asylum

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A. Kader

NETHERLANDS – The Dutch border police arrested an American couple, Michael Horowitz and Dr. Devra Marcus, on Sunday. They had accompanied the family of Serikzhan Bilash, a Kazakh human rights advocate, to the Netherlands, China Aid reports.  

The Dutch authorities released the couple from custody on Tuesday. They will return to the United States on the following day. 

Bob Fu, the chair of ChinaAid, called the arrests unjustified and said the couple should be rewarded instead for their efforts to save a Kazakh family. 

Serikzhan Bilash is the founder of Atajurt, a Kazakh human rights group that advocates for victims in Chinese concentration camps. According to human rights organizations, the Kazakh authorities have labeled Bilash a terrorist and held him captive for a while in 2019. 

Mr. Bilash has not seen his family since he departed from Kazakhstan in 2019. He and his family have been under considerable threat for several years.