The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan stated that it does not possess information about the number of ethnic Kazakhs placed in "political re-education camps" in Xinjiang province in northwestern China. The reason is that "the persons contained in these centers are citizens of China".

The Foreign Ministry said that "Kazakhstan does not have the right to interfere in the problems of ethnic Kazakhs who are Chinese citizens.

"According to the department of the consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, the main obstacle to the departure of ethnic Kazakhs to Kazakhstan are "the existing facts of violation of China’s migration legislation".

"In the absence of violations of China’s migration regime, there are no obstacles on the part of the Chinese authorities to leaving the ethnic Kazakhs", says Kazakh MFA.

In addition, according to the Committee of the Migration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, in the first four months of 2019, 1,929 ethnic Kazakhs received citizenship of Kazakhstan.

From January to April 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received 343 appeals from citizens of the country "to resolve the problem with the departure of relatives - Chinese citizens from China to Kazakhstan", says the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.

It should be noted that from 2017, it was reported that ethnic Kazakhs living in the Xinjiang region have been sent to political education centers. Kazakhs in Kazakhstan said their relatives are under pressure in China, and they asked a help from the authorities of Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan has promised to assist Kazakhs in China.

"The Qazaq Times"