Sri Lankans found in Kazakhstan

Customs officials in northern Kazakhstan say they have detained 24 Sri Lankans on the country's border with Russia.

The group said they had been dumped there by human traffickers who told them they were in Europe.

None of the Sri Lankans had visas for Kazakhstan, and three of them had no travel documents at all.

Correspondents say this is the third group of illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka to be detained in Kazakhstan this year.

One group -- who, at one stage thought that they had reached Germany -- were found nearly frozen after wandering several days across the Kazakh steppes last January.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service