Son of Uyghur Camp Witness Faces Imminent Deportation to Kazakhstan, Where He May Face Persecution

Akhmetzhan Sadyrov, the son of former Chinese concentration camp detainee and Uyghur activist Gulbahar Jalilova, is being deported to Kazakhstan.

by Uyghur Times Staff

Updated at Feb 9, 12:50 pm ET

Editor’s Note (Updated [date]): This article has been updated to include new information regarding Akhmetzhan Sadyrov’s attempted deportation from Austria via Türkiye and his current situation at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

According to multiple sources, Akhmetzhan Sadyrov, the son of former Chinese concentration camp detainee and prominent Uyghur activist Gulbahar Jalilova, is facing imminent deportation to Kazakhstan, where he is believed to be at serious risk of persecution.

Uyghur Times staff learned through a phone conversation with Akhmetzhan’s family that he has been living in Austria since 2023. After his asylum application was rejected, he requested that Austrian authorities provide a ticket to Istanbul, Turkey, where he has family and two children. Under Austrian policy, immigrants who choose to leave voluntarily may have their travel costs covered. Austrian authorities initially purchased a ticket for Sadyrov to Istanbul, not Astana, and he was prepared to leave voluntarily. However, upon arriving in Istanbul, Turkish customs officials denied him entry and sent him back to Austria.

Back in Austria, Sadyrov informs Austrian authorities that he seeks to reunite with his family in Istanbul and cannot be sent to Kazakhstan, where he faces the risk of punishment. Officials assure him that he will not be sent to Astana and will instead return to Istanbul. However, once he is already on the plane, he realizes that Austrian authorities intend to deport him to Kazakhstan via Turkey. When the plane lands in Istanbul, Sadyrov refuses to board the connecting flight to Astana, fearing for his safety.

Dilnur Reyhan, senior researcher at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and president of the European Uyghur Institute, criticized Austria’s actions, saying it was wrong to initiate the deportation of a Uyghur individual against his wishes to a place where he could face punishment. Reyhan emphasized that Sadyrov remains at risk and urged both Austrian authorities and the international community to take immediate steps to secure his immigration status.

When Akhmetzhan Sadyrov landed in Istanbul and called his mother to say he was being deported to Kazakhstan from Istanbul Airport, the broader community understood this as an indication that Türkiye had initiated the deportation process and was preparing to send him onward to Kazakhstan. Uyghur groups and activists voiced serious concern for Sadyrov’s safety while he was held at Istanbul Airport, where he refused to board the flight to Astana.

ETHR, a Türkiye-based human rights organization advocating for the Uyghur people, shared this news on X on February 7, stating:
“Today, a tragedy of a torn-apart family is unfolding at Sabiha Gökçen Airport. Uyghur Turk Akhmetzhan Sadyrov is about to be deported from Türkiye—where he came to reunite with his family—to Kazakhstan, where his life is not safe.”

Uyghur activist Aslan Hidayet stated, “This is an effort by the Chinese government to silence his mother Gulbahar Jalilova as she has continued to speak out about her brutal experiences in Chinese detention.”

Strong reactions have also come from Turkish political figures. Selçuk Özdağ, Member of Parliament and Deputy Group Chair of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, warned that the decision could have irreversible consequences. “Türkiye must be a safe haven for those fleeing persecution,” Özdağ said. “This decision could lead to consequences that cannot be remedied. From here, I make an open call to the authorities: Immediately reverse this wrong decision.”

Sadyrov lived in Türkiye from 2019 to 2023 after fleeing Kazakhstan over security concerns. His wife and two children are Turkish citizens, and he holds long-term permanent residency in Türkiye.

Observers and activists say the deportation is part of broader transnational repression efforts by the Chinese government aimed at silencing Gulbahar Jalilova, who has continued to publicly speak out about her 15 months of detention in China’s internment camps. Following her testimony, members of the Sadyrov family reportedly faced surveillance and threats from individuals linked to China while in Kazakhstan, raising serious concerns for Akhmetzhan Sadyrov’s safety if returned.

In 2025, Germany mistakenly deported a Uyghur woman to China instead of Turkey, though she later returned safely. Government sources confirmed that the woman, Reziwanguli Baikeli, was sent to Beijing due to a bureaucratic mix-up, prompting critics to condemn the incident as a “huge blunder” that endangered her life. She stayed in China only briefly before successfully traveling to Turkey, according to Der Spiegel.

Separately, authorities in Bavaria also reportedly deported a Uyghur man to China by administrative error. Officials expressed regret for “infringing the rights” of the man, who had scheduled an immigration meeting in April.

Protected No More, a report published by Human Rights Watch last year, states that the organization identified press reports of at least 33 Uyghurs detained in deportation centers across Türkiye between December 2018 and October 2025. Human Rights Watch noted that the actual number is likely higher, citing a Türkiye-based non-governmental organization—speaking on condition of anonymity—that documented more than 100 Uyghurs held by Turkish authorities in deportation centers in 2024 alone.