MOSCOW – As the U.N. refugee agency began removing hundreds of Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan so they are not returned to face torture and repression in their home country, a Western immigration official in Moscow said yesterday that some would be headed for America.

The 455 refugees, who fled to Kyrgyzstan after government forces opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators in May, were being flown to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, and the evacuation was expected to be completed today. From there they will be taken to a third, unspecified country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement. News agencies quoted airport officials in Bishkek as saying the country was Romania.

“UNHCR has been advocating for a transfer and emergency resettlement of this group over concerns for their safety and the sensitive asylum climate in Kyrgyzstan,” the statement said, adding that plans were still being finalized on where the refugees would eventually be resettled.

“Kyrgyzstan is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which along with Kyrgyz national law, clearly states that refugees cannot be sent back to territories where their life or freedom would be threatened,” UNHCR said.

The Western official, who requested anonymity, said a number of countries, including America, Canada, and Australia, had already agreed to take in the refugees and that they will begin arriving within several weeks.

“We need to remove these people from a situation where they are in danger of being sent back to Uzbekistan,” the official said.

The Uzbeks fled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan after troops fired on hundreds of anti-government protesters in the city of Andijan, sparking unrest across eastern Uzbekistan. Human rights groups say more than 700 people were killed in the violence, but Uzbek authorities say that only 187 people died. The Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, who has tolerated no dissent during his 16-year rule, has denied that troops fired on unarmed civilians and blamed the unrest on Islamic extremists.

World leaders, including President Bush, have called for an independent investigation of the incident, but Uzbek authorities have refused and strictly limited access to the region.

Under pressure from Mr. Karimov, Kyrgyzstan returned four of the Uzbeks in June – a move harshly criticized by rights groups and UNHCR. International agencies have documented a litany of alleged abuses by the Uzbek government and widespread torture of political prisoners, including beatings, asphyxiation with gas masks, and boiling prisoners alive.

The Western official said it was essential that the remaining refugees be moved before Kyrgyzstan gave in to further requests that they be sent back.

“Of course this is a sensitive issue, but it was a question of doing the right thing, giving these people protection,” he said.

The Associated Press reported that dozens of refugees could be seen resting on mattresses and eating sandwiches yesterday at Manas Airport outside Bishkek but that reporters were not allowed to speak with them.

UNHCR also reported yesterday that Uzbek troops had moved in near a detention center in southern Kyrgyzstan, where 29 of the refugees were being held on suspicion of criminal activity. The soldiers were demanding that 12 of the 29 be handed over so they could be taken back to Uzbekistan.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, yesterday repeated calls for Kyrgyzstan to refuse to send any refugees to Uzbekistan amid “numerous, ongoing, and consistent allegations of particularly brutal acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment committed by law enforcement personnel.”

She also expressed concern over the presence of “Uzbek officials” outside the detention center.

“I am extremely concerned about this apparent attempt to increase pressure for the return of detainees to Uzbekistan,” she said in a statement.