This isn't the first time a Uyghur researcher or advocate has been denied entry to Kazakhstan

A Danish anthropologist, Rune Steenberg, who researches Uyghurs, was denied entry to Kazakhstan on April 12. This took place at the Kazakh-Kyrgyz land border near Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek. Despite having visited Kazakhstan many times before, the Kazakh border guards informed Steenberg that he would not be permitted to enter the country.

“I asked about the reasons. They said there was no information. I think it has to do with my research on Xinjiang,” Steenberg said.

Steenberg has been researching various Uyghur communities around the world for many years, including in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China, also known as East Turkestan. Uyghurs substitute an ethnic and religious minority in China and live mainly in XUAR. Since 2014, they have been subjected to mass detention at the so-called “reeducation camps”, intensive surveillance, forced labor, and other rights abuses in the name of Chinese authorities fight against extremism.

He is currently leading an EU-funded research project at Palacky University Olomouc and is a teaching resident fellow at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek.

Initially, he was an ordinary researcher who did not set out to participate in political debates. However, since the beginning of the unprecedented political repression of Muslim and Turkic ethnic groups in XUAR, such as Uyghurs and Kazakhs, in 2014, and the introduction of widespread censorship about it, it has become impossible to be an objective Uyghur anthropologist without publicly covering this problem.

Amid this repression, he became not just a field researcher but also a publicist, political commentator, and one of the few outspoken voices on the horrors that Uyghurs were facing in China.

Perhaps that is what displeased the Kazakh authorities, who turn a blind eye to the mass illegal detentions of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China. For example, during the visit of the Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Xinjiang in October 2023, the issue of the rights of the Kazakh population of China was not publicly raised.

This isn't the first time a Uyghur advocate has been denied entry to Kazakhstan. In 2021, Yevgeny Bunin, the creator of the largest database of victims of Xinjiang prisons and camps called Shahit.biz, was denied entry to Kazakhstan due to his work.

This can be explained by the close political and economic ties between Kazakhstan and China, evidenced by their agreement on a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. Additionally, China is Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner and a major investor, having invested over USD 25 billion in Kazakhstan between 2005 and 2023.

Global Voices spoke to Rune Steenberg over email about how exactly he learned about his ban on visiting Kazakhstan, and what it’s like to be a Uyghur anthropologist without physical access to the largest Uyghur communities. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Global Voices (GV): Tell us exactly how you found out that you were banned from entering Kazakhstan.

Rune Steenberg (RN): I was on my way from Bishkek to Almaty, crossing at the Qordai-Dostuk border crossing point in the early evening of April 12, 2025. I was going to Almaty to meet friends. I passed through the Kyrgyz border control without problems. I got my exit stamp and walked along to the Kazakh side where I waited in line with everyone else.

When it was my turn, the Kazakh officer scanned my passport, asked me to remove my glasses and khuffiya, and took a picture of me with a small hand-held webcam. Then he looked closer at his screen. He called his colleague over, they discussed and then he turned to me and told me I couldn’t enter.

I asked why that was. He said there was no further information, only that I was ‘blocked.’ So I walked back to the Kyrgyz side. Thankfully, they let me in, canceled my exit stamp, and let me walk back to the bus, which I took back to Bishkek.

GV: You are suggesting that you were banned for actively studying the massive political repression among Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China and speaking out about it in the media. But you've never publicly criticized Kazakhstan itself, have you? Is the rights of national minorities in a neighboring state such a taboo topic in Kazakhstan?

RS: I do not know why I am banned. Also, I do not know for how long. I was not given any information about this yet. I went to ask at the Kazakh embassy in Bishkek and the Danish honorary consulate in Bishkek. I emailed the Danish embassy in Moscow, which the honorary consul told me was responsible for the matters of Danish citizens in Kazakhstan.

I know that people have before been banned from Kazakhstan for writing about Uyghur issues and Xinjiang (such as Gene Bunin, Dilnur Reyhan, and a few others), but I’m not sure that is why I am banned. At the same time, I can’t imagine any other reason they would have done it. I have always respected the time limits of my stay and never violated any laws or regulations in Kazakhstan. So it’s just a qualified guess.

GV: You are an anthropologist who studies Uyghurs. Ironically, you are now barred from entering the two countries with the largest Uyghur populations in the world. What are your research plans now?

RS: There are many Uyghurs across the world in more than a hundred countries. Also, I have so much material already that it would probably be wise to take some years to process, analyze, and write about it rather than doing further research. I have hundreds of Uyghur books that can now no longer be found in China because they have been banned or removed and they too deserve analytical attention. They are very important.

So I won’t run out of material. Also, as I am currently leading a research project called Remote Ethnography of XUAR, I am constantly improving my methods for researching without having direct on-the-ground access. There is so much to find and so much to do even when you cannot go in person. Do check out our homepage for tips and inspiration.