Another Uyghur refugee dies after 9 years in Thailand detention centre

[webfact]

Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok

 

by leah

Human rights groups are urging Thai authorities once more to end forced prolonged detention for Uyghur refugees following the death of a Uyghur man who spent nine years inside a detention centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mettohti Matturson, a 40 year old Uyghur refugee from Xinjiang in China, died of suspected liver failure at Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Centre (IDC) on Friday, reports the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP).

He is the second Uyghur from his group to die at the IDC in the past two months and the fifth Uyghur detained in Thailand to die since 2018, raising the alarm again that Uyghur refugees in Thailand are not provided with adequate living conditions or adequate access to healthcare.

 

UHRP reports that Mettohti was detained at the IDC after illegally entering Thailand on March 13, 2014. He was one of 450 Uyghur men, women, and children who fled China and were detained by Thai authorities that year.

Reports say that Mettohti suffered from severe stomach pains and vomiting for a few weeks. His condition worsened and developed jaundice which affected his eyes and tongue until he could no longer speak. He is believed to have died shortly after being transferred to the hospital on Friday.

 

In July 2015, at least 170 Uyghur women and children were taken from Thailand to Turkey. A few weeks later, 109 Uyghur men and women were deported back to China.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/another-uyghur-refugee-dies-after-9-years-in-thailand-detention-centre

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-04-27

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

The most versatile and flexible rental investment and holiday home solution in Thailand - click for more information.

[300sd]

He was detained since 2014! At the immigration detention centre! That disgusts me.

 

A friend was also detained at an immigration holding facility after serving his time in a Thai prison. He said it is run by Iranians and that without money you get nothing. People just live there because there is no choice.

“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” 

 

 

 

[hotchilli]

One word, disgusting.

[KhunLA]

" Mettohti was detained at the IDC after illegally entering Thailand on March 13, 2014."

 

Choices in life ... and death.  Can't find much info on him, except from China, ended up here.  Obviously not a good move, coming here.  

 

And how do you end up in TH, with all the place closer to Xinjiang.

[Denim]

Absolutely disgraceful. The Thai authorities should hang their heads in shame. Being detained for 9 years is bad enough but to be held in that hell hole is absolutely barbaric.

[Srikcir]

4 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

" Mettohti was detained at the IDC after illegally entering Thailand on March 13, 2014."

 

Choices in life ... and death.  Can't find much info on him, except from China, ended up here.  Obviously not a good move, coming here.  

 

And how do you end up in TH, with all the place closer to Xinjiang.

There is no place overland east and south to seek asylum (ie., South Korea, Malaysia) without going through authoritarian regimes, especially nations that want trade with China and will sacrifice human rights to do so. Otherwise, going west I imagine the Chinese borders are fairly well monitored. Northern Mongolia might as well be a vassal state of China.

[PremiumLane]

50 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

" Mettohti was detained at the IDC after illegally entering Thailand on March 13, 2014."

 

Choices in life ... and death.  Can't find much info on him, except from China, ended up here.  Obviously not a good move, coming here.  

 

And how do you end up in TH, with all the place closer to Xinjiang.

Could be a hundred reasons, who cares why he ended up here. The point is how the Thai authorities treated him. 

[chippendale]

An absolute disgrace. Thailand should feel deeply ashamed, but will shrug and watch more Tiktok videos.

[xtrnuno41]

The Irony, you flee your country, because they put you in detention, rehabilitation camps. End up in another detention camp and finally only find freedom by dying.

There are no human rights, only on paper it says so and Thailand is not different in handling then any other country in the world.

You send them a) to Turkey, where a dictator is already suppressing a group of people? b) back to China, direct to detention camp.

Well done boys.

The organisations in this mentioned were sleeping 9 years? Woke up on one dead person? Well done boys.

Civilization, human rights in this world? Maybe after a million years but now absolutely not. 

[Freed1948]

I feel that it is a reflection on Thailand's officialdom response to what it perceives as criticism of its officialdom.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, PremiumLane said:

Could be a hundred reasons, who cares why he ended up here. The point is how the Thai authorities treated him. 

And why they shouldn't let anyone in.  Or allow them to stay.  

 

I didn't ask why, asked how, as a few other countries closer to chose from, with a few in between Uyghur & TH.   

 

TH - 3000+ kms, direct air, LOS.   About 5 other counties <500 kms away, and had to pass thru 4 countries to get to TH.

 

Like people from South of USA, asking for asylum, when they passed thru Mexico to get there.   You're out of your oppressive area, so ask ASAP.

 

Entering illegally, you have no rights to anything.  Some countries send you adrift, or so I read.  Or slave camps.

 

They actually thought the authoritarian military Junta would be any different from the authoritarian one they left.

 

Guessing he refused to be returned to China with the others back in 2015.  Would think, guessing, he got offered to return or stay in prison here.

[proton]

How was it forced detention? if he or somebody paid for his fare home he could have left. Nobody invited him here so why should Thailand pay for his airfare? Why did the bleeding hearts human rights groups not pay for his fare?

[AgMech Cowboy]

Very sad.

[nahkit]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

TH - 3000+ kms, direct air, LOS.   About 5 other counties <500 kms away, and had to pass thru 4 countries to get to TH.

Which 4 countries would he have had to pass through to get to Thailand?

[KhunLA]

11 minutes ago, nahkit said:

Which 4 countries would he have had to pass through to get to Thailand?

Gmap will point them out ...

... Buddha helps those that help themselves.

 

Or you could just look at the map already posted above ????

 

Personally, I would have went to India, with 1+ billion people, if you can't blend and get lost in that crowd, why go elsewhere.

 

Grass is not greener  and sometimes better to stick with the Devil you know.

[nahkit]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Gmap will point them out ...

... Buddha helps those that help themselves.

 

Or you could just look at the map already posted above ????

 

Personally, I would have went to India, with 1+ billion people, if you can't blend and get lost in that crowd, why go elsewhere.

 

Grass is not greener  and sometimes better to stick with the Devil you know.

I have looked at the map and it shows that he would only have to pass through one country to get to Thailand, not 4, which is what you say, hence my question as to what 4 countries would he need to pass through?

 

I'll assume that the reason you haven't answered my question is because you now realise that there is no necessity to travel through 4 countries to get to Thailand.

 

Maps don't appear to be your strong point.

[PremiumLane]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

And why they shouldn't let anyone in.  Or allow them to stay.  

 

I didn't ask why, asked how, as a few other countries closer to chose from, with a few in between Uyghur & TH.   

 

TH - 3000+ kms, direct air, LOS.   About 5 other counties <500 kms away, and had to pass thru 4 countries to get to TH.

 

Like people from South of USA, asking for asylum, when they passed thru Mexico to get there.   You're out of your oppressive area, so ask ASAP.

 

Entering illegally, you have no rights to anything.  Some countries send you adrift, or so I read.  Or slave camps.

 

They actually thought the authoritarian military Junta would be any different from the authoritarian one they left.

 

Guessing he refused to be returned to China with the others back in 2015.  Would think, guessing, he got offered to return or stay in prison here.

You have already had the answer from others, yet here you are fixated on it still. 

 

Also, there is no legal requirement for a refugee to claim asylum in any particular country. The 1951 Refugee Convention does not require a refugee to claim asylum in one country rather than another. There is no rule requiring refugees to claim in the first safe country in which they arrive. Pretty sure Thailand has signed up to the convention, but I may be wrong. 

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, nahkit said:

I have looked at the map and it shows that he would only have to pass through one country to get to Thailand, not 4, which is what you say, hence my question as to what 4 countries would he need to pass through?

 

I'll assume that the reason you haven't answered my question is because you now realise that there is no necessity to travel through 4 countries to get to Thailand.

 

Maps don't appear to be your strong point.

If someone is 'escaping' China, do they really want to travel 2000 kms thru China when other countries are much closer.  Not exactly friendly landscape either.   AND, still have to pass thru a country or 3 to get to TH.

 

Have a nice day

[SunsetT]

3 hours ago, chippendale said:

An absolute disgrace. Thailand should feel deeply ashamed, but will shrug and watch more Tiktok videos.

Thais do not feel shame. The only thing that works is international publicity and condemnation and/or boycotts/sanctions.

[Gknrd]

What a wonderful country to call home. 

[aussienam]

"A few weeks later, 109 Uyghur men and women were deported back to China."

I fear for the lives of those 109 men. Sent back to China for definite imprisonment, torture and murder for organ harvesting. That organ transplant delivery express lane at the airport in Xinjiang will be a bit busier with 109 extra body parts to keep the elite mainland Chinese alive.

[connda]

8 hours ago, hotchilli said:

One word, disgusting.

Actually?  A better word:  Inhumane.  But?  TIT.

[herfiehandbag]

12 hours ago, proton said:

How was it forced detention? if he or somebody paid for his fare home he could have left. Nobody invited him here so why should Thailand pay for his airfare? Why did the bleeding hearts human rights groups not pay for his fare?

Empathy not really your strong suit is it?

 

Nasty little man.

[proton]

1 hour ago, herfiehandbag said:

Empathy not really your strong suit is it?

 

Nasty little man.

Nasty has nothing to do with it, look what 'empathy' has ended up doing to the UK, thousands turning up in boats claiming asylum when they have no right to and being put up in hotels costing millions a week. Thailand has to be admired for their approach, boats turn up - tow them back out to sea, illegals arrested put them in a detention centre. Almost all empathy and compassion is misplaced and ends up with the host nation being taken advantage of by liars and economic migrants.

[crouchpeter]

58 minutes ago, proton said:

Nasty has nothing to do with it, look what 'empathy' has ended up doing to the UK, thousands turning up in boats claiming asylum when they have no right to and being put up in hotels costing millions a week. Thailand has to be admired for their approach, boats turn up - tow them back out to sea, illegals arrested put them in a detention centre. Almost all empathy and compassion is misplaced and ends up with the host nation being taken advantage of by liars and economic migrants.

I'm afraid I have to agree with you. These losers are destroying other cultures, bit by bit. The reason we live in Thailand is because we're getting to see less and less white faces in our own countries. 

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour ago, crouchpeter said:

The reason we live in Thailand is because we're getting to see less and less white faces in our own countries. 

Unconscious irony there!

[nahkit]

18 hours ago, xtrnuno41 said:

You send them a) to Turkey, where a dictator is already suppressing a group of people? b) back to China, direct to detention camp.

Well done boys.

Uyghurs seeking asylum have a close affiliation with Turkey, estimates range from 50,000 to over 200,000 of them currently there. Both groups speak a Turkic language and there is supposed to be a 60% compatibility between the two versions.

 

Since 1952, Turkey has offered asylum to Uyghurs fleeing from the Xinjiang region.

[Mr Meeseeks]

1 hour ago, herfiehandbag said:

Unconscious irony there!

The irony is that any person from the UK breaking the law by staying in Thailand can be deported at a moment's notice, without further due process or legal proceedings. Or they are locked up in the IDC and monitored until they have the funds to pay for their own flights home. 

 

 

[proton]

36 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

The irony is that any person from the UK breaking the law by staying in Thailand can be deported at a moment's notice, without further due process or legal proceedings. Or they are locked up in the IDC and monitored until they have the funds to pay for their own flights home. 

 

 

They stay where they are until somebody pays their fare home, China or the UK makes no difference

[h90]

18 hours ago, proton said:

How was it forced detention? if he or somebody paid for his fare home he could have left. Nobody invited him here so why should Thailand pay for his airfare? Why did the bleeding hearts human rights groups not pay for his fare?

Bleeding hearts human rights groups job is not to help detained people. It is to collect money to pay their managers salaries. There is a book, I think from one of the first founder of Greenpeace, about how these groups start with good intentions, and than all get taken over and get full commercial with new management. Surely the same with human right groups...the stories after the Tsunami were also bad