Arkin traveled to Afghanistan in order to look for his younger brother Bahtiyar Mahnut.[2] He is one of approximately twenty-two captives from the Uighur ethnic group.[3] By the summer of 2009 Arkin's mental health had deteriorated so profoundly he wasn't offered sanctuary in Palau. For some time in 2005 during his stay in Guantanamo he was held in solitary confinement.