Thailand will have blood on its hands if refugees are sent back

[Thai at Heart]

Sending refugees back is nothing new. In the 70's thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laos were sent back. In the 80's and 90's how many Mung tribes people were sent back to Laos to die.

How many people are returned 'south of the border' by the USA ?

Is there any country which accepts all illegal immigrants without question ?

Sure, Uighurs are a special case, but so is just about every illegal.

Any "blood" will be on the hands of the traffickers ( and they might be Thai ? ).

Many of the photos show a surprisingly high proportion of women and children, considering these people are usually considered to be so family centric.

Will the menfolk follow on in the next shipment ?

Maybe the two husbands were on that plane. Men first and all that. How many wives can a Muslim male have?

[samran]

Illegal is illegal. If I overstay I have to pay 500 baht at airport. How can illegals stay in this country or any other country where they are "illegal"???

Must be nice to have been born in a country where you were generally afforded proper human rights protections and the live and prosper under them. Also nice that you've been able to rock up to Thailand with little more than your passport, or if you are a retiree, a derisory amount of money in your bank needed to get a visa and then lecture others about escaping persecution.

[samran]

Their stinking rotten criminal's who intended to cheat and lie to get to another country, like Australia, to bludge off the generosity of the new country all the while claiming to be refugees.

I really hope Thailand sends em back to China.

Writing this from Thailand are you? So exactly how are you contributing here? Have you blended in, learned the lingo, gotten a job contributing to Thailand have you?

[taipan1949]

These "illegals" should stay in their countries and fix them from there. Many countries are fighting to change, these only want to come to western countries and not integrate, how can you integrate with that costume on??

[samran]

These "illegals" should stay in their countries and fix them from there. Many countries are fighting to change, these only want to come to western countries and not integrate, how can you integrate with that costume on??

So you speak read and write Thai fluently then???

[Publicus]

Beijing is putting the arm to Thailand to return refugees from a CCP occupied territory, which the CCP calls Xin Jiang (new territory/frontier) and which was occupied by armed military force. Beijing's bullying of Bangkok needs to be countered so Washington is doing the right thing to influence Thailand. Uighur groups abroad are based in the United States, have ongoing relations with the State Department, consistently and usually successfully call on the U.S. to counter Beijing's forced and enforced occupation of the Uighur homeland.

It is significant that Turkey has taken initiative to open itself to these particular refugees because PM Erdogan had in the past allowed himself to be used by the CCP to visit the Uighur capital Urumqi with the CCP prime minister to promote Beijing's neocolonialism there, 'and had engaged in actions supportive of Beijing in its enforced occupation over the Uighurs. It's pretty certain Beijing is now privately hollering at Ankara for the offer, especially after the March 1st Kunming train station slaughter on Chinese soil itself, which Beijing is cynically trying to turn into the PRC's 9/11 (3.1).

Thailand is a security treaty ally of the U.S. and Turkey is a Nato ally of Washington while Beijing is the dictatorial home of your regional neighbor from hell, which puts the Thai authorities in the kind of place they just hate to be. The unfortunate group of Uighurs presently in the former LOS need to apply formally for asylum somewhere, probably Turkey (not Malaysia), which Beijing absolutely doesn't want but which Bangkok along with the U.S. would very probably like them to do, and which Turkey has made clear would be welcome.

Thai authorities have legal sovereign jurisdiction over these Uighurs on Thai soil so the Uighurs are at the mercy of Bangkok. I guess these Uighurs are lucky Bangkok hasn't put them on a large raft and cut them loose out to sea.

[squarethecircle]

Is there any indication Beijing would actually torture these people? Seems like (unless they are known/wanted for terrorism or other criminal charges) they will possibly receive punishment/"reeducation" for attempting to leave, and then resettled. Actually (and I do not want to defend the bullies in Beijing) I don't think the Uighurs have it that bad. Look at the other side of the Chinese border from East Turkestan: countries like Uzbekistan with their oil-rich corrupt dictators. Being inside China brings its own benefits, such as trade. A Uighur businessman who took advantage of that position could really do well. So I very much doubt these people have genuine claims for asylum and are just pulling the "asylum card" for practical reasons.

Still, good to see the US acting as a hedge against the CCP.

[geriatrickid]

Easy: Ask Turkey if they are willing to take them.

If yes let them travel to Turkey and pretend that they are Turkish......

If Turkey doesn't take them, send them back to China. Blood on the hands??? I never read that China is killing minorities.

China does indeed make life difficult for these people and for its minorities.

By happenchance, is your negative sentiment more a reflection of your dislike of muslims than anything else?

[geriatrickid]

Is there any indication Beijing would actually torture these people? Seems like (unless they are known/wanted for terrorism or other criminal charges) they will possibly receive punishment/"reeducation" for attempting to leave, and then resettled. Actually (and I do not want to defend the bullies in Beijing) I don't think the Uighurs have it that bad. Look at the other side of the Chinese border from East Turkestan: countries like Uzbekistan with their oil-rich corrupt dictators. Being inside China brings its own benefits, such as trade. A Uighur businessman who took advantage of that position could really do well. So I very much doubt these people have genuine claims for asylum and are just pulling the "asylum card" for practical reasons.

Still, good to see the US acting as a hedge against the CCP.

I don't think it appropriate to make conclusions in the absence of an actual investigation. The Uighurs are indeed oppressed by the Han majority, despite China's attempts to keep all foreign observers and investigators out of China. At the very least, Thailand should allow the UN to interview and observe the refugees. You have not seen these refugees have you? As such, you really don't know what the truth is. No one will know what is going on unless Thailand follows some basic humanitarian SOPs. It is incumbent upon all nations to process refugees in a proper manner. When Thais claim refugee status in the EU or Australia or North America, they are given due process and fair hearing. Thailand should do the same.

[gordon from yasothon]

Trying to identify them could be a problem.

Mmmmm, don't know about that, The one holding the kid looks familiar???

[thepool]

"When Thais claim refugee status in the EU or Australia or North America"

On what basis would a Thai claim "refugee" status ?

How many such Thais have been accepted as "refugees" by the EU, Australia or North America !

FACTS please

[Wombat6]

And absolutely no mention of how these people came to be in Thailand and certainly no mention of who trafficked or smuggled them in. Have the authorities arrested or questioned anyone in Thailand over this?

How do 220 people suddenly pop up in a place without anyone noticing?

Clearly a well planned and resourced operation, that's how.

Large groups of people are popping up on Australian shores all the time and Australia is actually keeping a lookout but some groups still get through undetected. Very few people smugglers are actually arrested in Australia also as they are hard to find.

maybe you have been living here too long and not keeping up with the news. There are not large groups of people popping up on Australian shores any longer. Australian Patrol boats and planes are turning people back or they are sent to Papua/New Guinea with no hope of being sent to Australia. Genuine refugees are offered a choice to settle in NG, or return to their origins. There was a recent case where a convicted People Smuggler appealed his sentence given to him in Australia but it was refused. Most people Smugglers are not in Australia...try Indonesia ,Malaysia or Middle Eastern Countries. To all you people who are critical of Thailands handling of these "refugees", if you feel so strong, why not return to your own country and sponsor some of these people..

[binjalin]

nice to see the flow of compassion on here

[theslime]

Their stinking rotten criminal's who intended to cheat and lie to get to another country, like Australia, to bludge off the generosity of the new country all the while claiming to be refugees.

I really hope Thailand sends em back to China.

Your stinking rotten post points to the fact that you lack compassion, Where are your facts on the Women and Children being Criminals and not genuine Refugees.. Oh thats right you don,t have any, just a sad racist slur. You really hope they get sent back to China, and you call them criminal.

[simple1]

These "illegals" should stay in their countries and fix them from there. Many countries are fighting to change, these only want to come to western countries and not integrate, how can you integrate with that costume on??

For a start under the UN Conventions there is no such label as an "illegal refugee", this label is used by some politicians to appeal to nationalist/racist/bigot sentiments such as yours. No one can apply for refugee/asylum seeker status from within their home country so it cannot be "fixed" in their home country.

From the Australian experience, prior to the PNG Solution, roughly 10% were identified as economic refugees and those that were identified as such would be deported back to their home country. In some cases this is not possible (e.g. Iran) as they will not be accepted by their government, which really underlines the dispicable policies of some source countries.

[geriatrickid]

"When Thais claim refugee status in the EU or Australia or North America"

On what basis would a Thai claim "refugee" status ?

How many such Thais have been accepted as "refugees" by the EU, Australia or North America !

FACTS please

Canada has accepted in excess of 5000 refugees from Thailand over the past 5 years. The majority of which are from the UNHCR supported Karen refugee camps. These refugees are usually born in Thailand and due to the refusal of Thailand to offer a local solution, are considered stateless. In respect to other types of Thai nationals, in any given year, there are at least a dozen or more Thai nationals who claim refugee status, They are entitled to hearings and judicial reviews when their claim is denied.

[Cat ji]

These "illegals" should stay in their countries and fix them from there. Many countries are fighting to change, these only want to come to western countries and not integrate, how can you integrate with that costume on??

So you speak read and write Thai fluently then???

You know very well that learning the language - not learning the language - is not equivalent to trying to force your religious-political belief system on the natives, particularly when you chose to immigrate for a better life.

[Cat ji]

Easy: Ask Turkey if they are willing to take them.

If yes let them travel to Turkey and pretend that they are Turkish......

If Turkey doesn't take them, send them back to China. Blood on the hands??? I never read that China is killing minorities.

China does indeed make life difficult for these people and for its minorities.

By happenchance, is your negative sentiment more a reflection of your dislike of muslims than anything else?

Muslims, when more than about 5% of the population, often cause trouble by insisting that they are entitled to a different set of rules,the the common civil code and so on is not applicable to them.

i hope you're aware of the jihad terrorist activity in that southern area of Thailand.

[Cat ji]

Blood my ass! Read your history you stupid fool. These refugees are colonizers. They are sent here to start the foot hold to bring more and more moslems in. Just look at all the new mosques. Where do you think that money came from since there are not enough moslems near each new mosque to have paid for them.

Generally, the funding for mosques and madrassas comes from Saudi Arabia.

[simple1]

These "illegals" should stay in their countries and fix them from there. Many countries are fighting to change, these only want to come to western countries and not integrate, how can you integrate with that costume on??

So you speak read and write Thai fluently then???

You know very well that learning the language - not learning the language - is not equivalent to trying to force your religious-political belief system on the natives, particularly when you chose to immigrate for a better life.

Migrants are all subject to the legal & political processes of their new country of residence. So in which Western countries have 'enforced' religious & political belief systems held by migrants occurred? A lot of posters rave about Sharia Law, but as far as I am aware there is not one Western country where there is a plural legal system.

NB: None of this is relevant to the actual topic.

Edited March 22, 2014 by simple1

[sms747]

Pity the host countries do not apply sharia law to these 'refugees' a lot of very harsh punishments for lying would be handed out if they did

[theslime]

Sending refugees back is nothing new. In the 70's thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laos were sent back. In the 80's and 90's how many Mung tribes people were sent back to Laos to die.

How many people are returned 'south of the border' by the USA ?

Is there any country which accepts all illegal immigrants without question ?

Sure, Uighurs are a special case, but so is just about every illegal.

Any "blood" will be on the hands of the traffickers ( and they might be Thai ? ).

Many of the photos show a surprisingly high proportion of women and children, considering these people are usually considered to be so family centric.

Will the menfolk follow on in the next shipment ?

Maybe the two husbands were on that plane. Men first and all that. How many wives can a Muslim male have?

As many as a rich thai, ask around.

[DM07]

The compassion some of the finest among you express here, is truly heartwarming!

Most of you, who grew up in countries with relative freedom, relative economic stability...did you ever think, that you were lucky and did you ever imagine, how life would look for you, being a Rohinga or a Hmong or a Moken?

I didn't think so!