Thai editorial: Repatriating Uighurs could come back to haunt us

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EDITORIAL
Repatriating Uighurs could come back to haunt us
The Nation

Beijing's crackdown on the ethnic group is creating anger across the Islamic world; Thailand risks a backlash if it sends refugees back to China

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon is sending out a very disturbing signal about the fate of a group of some 200 Turkic-speaking refugees who were founded huddling in a forest in Songkhla in March.

It is widely believed that these refugees, and others like them who have been rounded up in other parts of the country, are Uighurs who had fled ongoing persecution in China.

Officially, Thai authorities are in the process of trying to identify the origin and citizenship of the group, whose members have revealed very little about themselves other than their desire to relocate to Turkey.

Turkish diplomats have met them and asked them to cooperate with the Thai authorities during this process of verification.

Initially, the discovery of these asylum seekers in Thailand was big news for the local and international media. But they quickly lost interest. The Chinese authorities, however, are still following the case closely, according to reports.

"Life is so hard [in the Thai detention centre]," one female refugee told Radio Free Asia's Uighur Service.

"The food is bad, and [portions are] reduced day by day. There is no one who hasn't contracted scabies there. They [camp authorities] won't allow us hospital treatment," said the woman, who is one of about 170 suspected Uighur women and children who have been held at an immigration centre in Songkhla since March. The men of the group are being held at various locations.

International human rights organisations and Western governments including the US and the European Union have come out to urge the Thai government not to repatriate the group back to China, citing concern for their safety. But little progress has been made in terms of getting a third country to take them.

General Prawit has said that if the group are identified as Chinese citizens, the issue would be an internal affair of China.

"About their safety, I do not believe a superpower like China will treat them with violence when these people return home," Prawit said.

His comments came after the Chinese consul in Songkhla, Qin Jian, said the refugees should be repatriated if they are identified as Chinese.

It is difficult to reconcile Prawit's words here with the reality as we know it. So we recommend that he read the findings of international rights organisations and media on how the Chinese government treats the Muslim Uighur people in the autonomous region of Xinjiang.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee has said that identification of the group is being carried out, but he pledged that Thailand would respect their human rights. Perhaps the Foreign Ministry and the military need to get their story straight and start singing from the same hymn sheet.

Both should know that blood could very well be on their hands if they decide to send the group back to China. Moreover, such an action could very well put Thailand on the radar screen of Islamic extremists and militants who have a global reach.

In recent months China has responded harshly to violence by Uighur extremists at home by launching a crackdown not just on the Muslims in Xinjiang but on Islam itself.

The Uighurs in Xinjiang were prohibited from observing Ramadan this year, with Muslim students and civil servants prevented from attending weekly prayers during the holy month.

Such an attitude and policy is self-defeating as it creates resentment among Muslims not just in China but all over the world. Chinese authorities have made a grave mistake in turning this dispute with the Uighurs into a battle with Islam. If Thailand were to become embroiled in this pathetic, narrow-minded campaign, the consequences would likely come back to haunt the country. Bangkok can keep its hands clean by not repatriating these refugees to China.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Repatriating-Uighurs-could-come-back-to-haunt-us-30248229.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-21

[Commerce]

"About their safety, I do not believe a superpower like China will treat them with violence when these people return home," Prawit said.

Little does he know!!! They are despised by the Chinese. Why the heck does he think the are making an exodus.........

[Thai at Heart]

Having worked in xinjiang, I thought when she said it was hard, I felt empathy.

Then I realised that she was talking about the camp in Thailand. They must have a really shitty camp

[RustBucket]

Claiming they don't believe the Chinese would treat them with violence is totally absurd. The Chinese will massacre the lot of them.... men, women and children alike and the Thai authorities know this 100%.

But they will bend to the word of the Chinese like they always do.... They are merely priming the situation for when they need to answer serious questions from the west on the issue, so they can claim their usual childish ignorance.

But on the other hand.... WHEN (not if) the Chinese wipe these people out, it will be done behind closed doors. The world will never be able to confirm it.

[doggie888888]

I am Australian and thus cannot/should not comment on this since our government also sees fit to forcibly repatriate asylum seekers. Shame.

[yellowboat]

Thailand gonverment should not be so ruthless. They should process refugees according to high standards. The UN is a few minutes drive from government offices, should they be unclear how to treat refugees.

[henry15]

The Thai governmeng is correctm. Those people are illegal immigrants,and should be send back to their home country, what is China. They are etnic Turks, and Turky is the evil power in the background in the Uighurs etnicl conflict amd in other etnic conflicts in the old USSR teritories, because most of the new republics are etnic Turks. In short Turky is still an 100% old fashion Imperialistic state.

[yellowboat]

The Thai governmeng is correctm. Those people are illegal immigrants,and should be send back to their home country, what is China. They are etnic Turks, and Turky is the evil power in the background in the Uighurs etnicl conflict amd in other etnic conflicts in the old USSR teritories, because most of the new republics are etnic Turks. In short Turky is still an 100% old fashion Imperialistic state.

So send them back without due process ?

[KuhnPaen]

Oh, I thought they meant white guys who think they are black. Like, "Wassup Uyghur? You buy that Eminem CD yet?"

[Vagabond1]

The Thai governmeng is correctm. Those people are illegal immigrants,and should be send back to their home country, what is China. They are etnic Turks, and Turky is the evil power in the background in the Uighurs etnicl conflict amd in other etnic conflicts in the old USSR teritories, because most of the new republics are etnic Turks. In short Turky is still an 100% old fashion Imperialistic state.

How may of the "new republics" are ethnic Turks? Out of 15 former USSR republics I counted 5 that are.

Back to OP - a shame Thailand treats potential refugees so harshly - but they do not stand much chance of being admitted by Turkey: governments are not prepared to admit ethnic and religious persecutions of Uighurs in China.

[halloween]

I am Australian and thus cannot/should not comment on this since our government also sees fit to forcibly repatriate asylum seekers. Shame.

Should we allow everyone seeking a better lifestyle in? That has worked SO well in the UK, France Canada and numerous other countries.

Personally I preferred the days when I didn't have neighbours prepared to commit mass murder because someone has offended their oh so tender sensibilities.

[arjunadawn]

Thailand needs to prusue a course of action which represents the best interests of Thailand. IMO, repatriating these people represent the best interests of Thailand, not China particularly. "Anger across the Islamic World..." Thats the problem, "they" demand an Islamic World for all of us, and these Uighers are not different; do the homework. The aim toward an islamic world is a transnational ideology with its roots squarely in the relevant islamic texts- all of them! Uighers have trained and fought in muliple jihad locations from Aghanistan to Iraq and have returned espousing that very aim at home. The fact that China itself is actually no better, though of a different ilk, than the islamic Uighers is no excuse to shelter a threat.

Thailand needs to immunize its own considerable muslim population from jihadi influences. While no government policy can ensure this some actions will facilitate this. Allowing Uighers to stay is a bad, bad idea. Pay attention "...anger across the Islamic World..." is actually the underlying issue.

[arjunadawn]

So send them back without due process ?

Due process? When someone enters a country illegally, they are a criminal. Criminals who are citizens can per prosecuted. Non citizens can be kicked out, or prosecuted, or both. These are basic tenets of any soverign state. The touchy feeling modern chaos theory that laws should be whatever we "feel" is fundementally evil. It forces the whole to be at the mercy of the squeeky wheel independent of laws.

[Fat Haggis]

The Thai governmeng is correctm. Those people are illegal immigrants,and should be send back to their home country, what is China. They are etnic Turks, and Turky is the evil power in the background in the Uighurs etnicl conflict amd in other etnic conflicts in the old USSR teritories, because most of the new republics are etnic Turks. In short Turky is still an 100% old fashion Imperialistic state.

And so are a great deal of farangs illegal immigrants in Thailand too , and I don't just mean the Westerners, I mean literally "Foreigners" that is everyone who is not a Native Thai.

I hope you feel at home here with Your racist comments !!

[Mudcrab]

Claiming they don't believe the Chinese would treat them with violence is totally absurd. The Chinese will massacre the lot of them.... men, women and children alike and the Thai authorities know this 100%.

But they will bend to the word of the Chinese like they always do.... They are merely priming the situation for when they need to answer serious questions from the west on the issue, so they can claim their usual childish ignorance.

But on the other hand.... WHEN (not if) the Chinese wipe these people out, it will be done behind closed doors. The world will never be able to confirm it.

And on the other hand..When (not if) these Muslims integrate and breed into the host society they WILL destroy everything until their will is imposed. Might take decades but it WILL happen.

Good on the Chinese..try getting INTO japan if you are Muslim.

Why don't we hear about persecuted Muslims trying to get asylum in Saudi Arabia..or Pakistan.......surely a better place for them...amongst their own religious kind? And in the case of Saudi Arabia..one of the richest countries on Earth?

[Udoth]

"The Uighurs in Xinjiang were prohibited from observing Ramadan this year, with Muslim students and civil servants prevented from attending weekly prayers during the holy month."

This is pretty bad, I thought China had become more tolerant.. Now of course there are problems in Xinjiang, do they really think that things will get better by repressing people? The World is not about copying intellectuals and ruining cultures and mother Earth, when are these people going to get any wiser?

Edited November 21, 2014 by Udoth

[Bluespunk]

" Bangkok can keep its hands clean by not repatriating these refugees to China."

Bangkok?

Edited November 21, 2014 by Bluespunk