Sudden Deportation of USC Human Rights Professor Steve Swerdlow Raises Concerns Over Academic Freedom in Kyrgyzstan

Washington DC - May 20, 2026.

Via Serica expresses deep concern over the sudden denial of entry and deportation of Steve Swerdlow, a longtime Central Asia scholar, human rights advocate, Board Member of Via Serica, and Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights at the University of Southern California (USC), upon his arrival in Kyrgyzstan on May 19.

Swerdlow arrived at Bishkek airport at approximately 4:30 a.m. leading a group of 16 USC students for a month-long educational program in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The trip was designed to introduce students to the history, culture, politics, and civil society of Central Asia through direct academic and cultural engagement.

According to Swerdlow, he was immediately removed from passport control upon arrival and taken to a separate room, where border officials informed him they had been instructed not to admit him into the country.

“I was taken out of line at passport control and whisked away to the departure area,”

Swerdlow said. “They told me only that they had orders not to allow me into Kyrgyzstan.”

Despite repeated requests for clarification, Swerdlow said authorities failed to provide any legal explanation or official documentation justifying the decision. A letter reportedly shown to him by airline personnel stated only that entry to Kyrgyzstan was “closed” to him.

After several hours in detention at the airport, Swerdlow was deported via Istanbul. Kyrgyz authorities reportedly informed the airline that he was being returned to Los Angeles, causing his luggage to be rerouted before he managed to recover it during transit in Turkey.

Swerdlow previously lived and worked in Kyrgyzstan for years and conducted research

across Central Asia, including with Human Rights Watch in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan between 2010 and 2019. He had led similar educational trips to Kyrgyzstan with USC students in both 2022 and 2024 without incident.

“The whole idea behind this class is to introduce the beauty and sophistication of

Kyrgyzstan, a place I dearly love and consider my adopted home, to students,” Swerdlow said. “I hope the government quickly reverses this arbitrary decision and allows me to rejoin my students.”

The trip, organized in cooperation with the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, included academic meetings, cultural exchanges, and educational activities throughout Kyrgyzstan. Students were scheduled to meet with representatives of the presidential administration, parliament, and the human rights ombudsman, as well as participate in cultural programs near Issyk-Kul, including traditional Kyrgyz cooking classes, a kok-boru match, and a public reading of the Kyrgyz epic Manas.

Swerdlow, who is also an accomplished jazz keyboard player and longtime participant in Bishkek’s jazz community, had additionally planned cultural activities for students

involving local musicians.

“Who would have thought a jazz man would be a security threat?” Swerdlow remarked.

The incident has prompted alarm among civil society organizations in Kyrgyzstan. Bir

Duyno publicly questioned the legality of the detention and deportation, expressing concern that Swerdlow had been denied entry “without a clear public explanation of the legal basis and reasons for the decision.”

Via Serica notes that this case follows a troubling pattern involving the denial of entry to journalists, academics, and human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan. Previous incidents have included the deportation or exclusion of representatives affiliated with international human rights organizations and foreign media outlets.

Via Serica calls on the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to provide a transparent explanation for this action and to reverse any arbitrary restrictions preventing Swerdlow from rejoining his students and continuing the educational program.

Academic exchange, cultural dialogue, and peaceful international engagement should not be treated as security threats. Actions targeting scholars and human rights experts risk undermining Kyrgyzstan’s longstanding reputation as one of the more open and

internationally engaged societies in Central Asia.