TOKAYEV’S APPROACH TO KAZAKH ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM CHINA: AN ASSESSMENT AND FOREIGN POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

ABSTRACT The year 2020 marked a change in Kazakhstan's approach to Kazakh asylum seekers from China. For the first time, ethnic Kazakhs escaping China's security and ethnic policy apparatus in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR; Xinjiang) were granted a right to a temporary stay in the country. The status was valid for one year only, yet it was a significant improvement as until 2020 similar cases were lost in Kazakh courts. This change was possible due to the international advocacy of local Kazakh human rights activists, the growing international recognition of the Xinjiang issue by the West, and the ambitions of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has been developing his own style of the presidency with social issues as its centrepiece. The purpose of this article is to assess Tokayev's approach to Xinjiang as a human rights issue in the context of his domestic and foreign policies. This article argues that despite the initial improvement in how the country dealt with asylum seekers from China, the situation of both human rights activists and refugees has deteriorated, forcing them to seek shelter in a third country. The article also finds that Kazakhstan's foreign policy under Tokayev has been increasingly China-oriented, prioritizing economic and political relations with Beijing over those with the West. This approach immediately affects Tokayev's strategies towards anti-Chinese activists and asylum seekers from China; it also has a long-lasting effect on the country declarative multi-vectoral and Eurasian foreign policy outlook.