Prosecutor-General Azimbek Beknazarov told RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service on 4 August that Kyrgyzstan is willing to hand over 15 Uzbek citizens currently detained in Osh to any country that is willing to grant them refugee status and accept them. But they could face deportation to Uzbekistan if no one accepts them. \"Today, not one state is willing to take them,\" Beknarazov said. \"Under such circumstances, I have no other option but to deport them to Uzbekistan.\" He said that representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) have left Bishkek for Europe, where they will have 10 days to find a country willing to accept the 15. The 15 Uzbek citizens fled Uzbekistan after violence in Andijon on 12-13 May along with more than 400 of their compatriots, who were recently airlifted to Romania. Kyrgyz authorities later detained the 15 on the basis of materials provided by Uzbek officials, who charge that the men are criminals. Zafar Khakimov, head of the Migration Department in the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, told RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service on 4 August that four of the 15 have asylum-seeker status, while four were refused such status because they were allegedly serving sentences in Uzbekistan for drug-related offenses. International organizations and Western governments have strongly urged against the Uzbek citizens\' return to Uzbekistan, arguing that they could face government reprisals at home. (RFE/RL)