Uighur migrants held in Thailand for 11 months take case to court

[webfact]

Uighur migrants held in Thailand for 11 months take case to court
Reuters

BANGKOK: -- A Thai court will decide this month whether to release 17 Uighurs from the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, including 13 children, who have been detained for the past 11 months in Bangkok, a lawyer for the group said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of people have been killed in unrest in Xinjiang in the past two years, prompting a crackdown by Chinese authorities. Small numbers of Uighurs, a Muslim people from Xinjiang who speak a Turkic language, have been trickling out of China to Southeast Asia with some ending up in Thailand.

"The court will hold an urgent hearing on March 24 and decide whether to release the group of 17, including a four-month-old baby, who are all from the same family," Worasit Piriyawiboon, a lawyer for the group, said.

"They would be released immediately if the court finds they have been detained illegally."

Under Thai law, court approval must be sought for detention periods over seven days.

The family, who use the surname Teklimakan, entered Thailand in March 2014 and were caught in the town of Aranyaprathet, close to Thailand’s border with Cambodia.

They were charged with illegal entry and the adults fined Bt20,000, said Worasit.

The family are currently being held at Bangkok’s Suan Plu Immigration Detention Centre.

They have been issued Turkish passports, he said.

The Embassy of Turkey in Bangkok could not be reached for comment.

China lashed out at Turkey in November for offering to shelter roughly 200 Uighurs from Xinjiang who were rescued from a human-smuggling camp in Thailand.

Turkey is home to thousands of Uighurs who have fled Xinjiang since the Chinese Communists took over the region in 1949.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Uighur-migrants-held-in-Thailand-for-11-months-tak-30255223.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-03

[Morakot]

Under Thai law, court approval must be sought for detention periods over seven days.

Seven days, is this for martial law or normal practice?

[squarethecircle]

Before I met a Xinjiang kebab maker, seemed like a nice enough chap. He said, outright, he was saving money to be smuggled to Malaysia, his dream escape country.

[cookee68]

Before I met a Xinjiang kebab maker, seemed like a nice enough chap. He said, outright, he was saving money to be smuggled to Malaysia, his dream escape country.

Failing that, he will consider Syria

[Srikcir]

China lashed out at Turkey in November for offering to shelter for Uighurs from Xinjiang who were rescued from a human-smuggling camp in Thailand.

The Junta sure knows how to pick its partners for national security. With China as a friend, who needs enemies?

[berybert]

^{They will be waiting 3 more weeks to hold an urgent meeting. Not that urgent then, is it.}

[Strangebrew]

The 20,000 baht for overstay? Oh those tricky Thai's well one way to make money off overstay.