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EDITORIAL
Focus on 'human trafficking' is blinding the police
The Nation

Deeper issues lie at the heart of the Uighurs' presence in Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung says a people-trafficking network that "moved Uighurs from one place to another" perpetrated the August 17 terrorist attack in Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured 130, many of them Chinese tourists.

Somyot explained that the traffickers were angered because Thai authorities had dismantled their network and had sought "revenge" for the forced repatriation of 109 Uighurs to China in July.

If the claim is true, then the Ratchaprasong attack would be the first Uighur terrorist attack outside China.

This would mean that Chinese tourists - of whom more than a million visit Thailand each year - are no longer safe either here or in any destination to which they travel in large numbers.

Somyot delivered the news at a press conference that was meant to show the police are making good progress on the bombing case. And indeed, arrest warrants for the suspects have been issued along with sketches to aid identification. But less reassuring are seemingly premature conclusions being made by the government and the police.

With the investigation far from over, the authorities should instead be dealing solely with facts. By focusing on the trafficking angle, our security agencies appear to be overlooking other important issues, chief among them the gross rights violations occurring in the Muslim-Uighur's homeland of Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities are cracking down.

Thai authorities risk being perceived as instruments of China in this case. Bangkok's credulity suffered in July when - after Beijing promised to treat the deported Uighurs in a humanitarian manner - photos emerged of Chinese security officials dragging the hooded deportees onto a plane.

The forced repatriation drew an international outcry, and foreigners might now believe that Thai authorities are deliberately blurring the line between people smuggled as illegal migrants and refugees fleeing persecution.

Maybe the Thai police are unaware of what China is doing to the Uighurs in Xinjiang. If so, they need to broaden their knowledge beyond our borders. They could even take into account modern Thai history to understand that this country has long been a haven for people fleeing political persecution in the region.

Over the decades refugees fleeing Myanmar's conflicts and those escaping the fallout of war in Indochina have found safety in Thailand.

While the state has provided shelter in the form of refugee camps and other aid, there were other incursions to which it merely chose to turn a blind eye, including the coming and going of Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger leaders like Selvarasa Padmanathan. We also turn a blind eye, for humanitarian reasons, to North Korean defectors.

The Uighurs of Xinjiang are merely the latest in a long line of migrants to have sought safe haven in or passage through Thailand.

But with the recent international outcry over slave labour in Thailand's fishing industry, "human trafficking" has become a convenient tag for the police in their dealings with the Uighurs. However, it will take far more than expedient slogans to reassure the public that the police are responding in an efficient and competent manner.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Focus-on-human-trafficking-is-blinding-the-police-30268970.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-17

[Reigntax]

No, focus on money, self interest and finding easy scapegoats is blinding them.

[jaidam]

No, focus on money, self interest and finding easy scapegoats is blinding them.

Nicely put. And that they are totally above the law and able to act howsoever they choose up to and including committing murder without any fear whatsoever of a real investigation into their evil behavior nothing will change. The ongoing court case in Samui has been an eye opener for the rest of the world, showing clear manipulation of evidence, and pure lies, going all the way to the top.

[assayer]

Better be careful, this article is very close to the dreaded " Need an attitude adjustment guideline"

[BSJ]

It's another case of the 'MGR syndrome'!

[Tatsujin]

"Maybe the Thai police are unaware of what China is doing to the Uighurs in Xinjiang."

No, the Royal Thai Police thieves and the Military and Politicians are all fully aware of the Uighur situation, the human trafficking here in general, the poor treatment of "guest" workers, etc etc, cos they've all got their grubby little fingers in the very large pie, and they don't give two hoots ... there's far too much money to be made on the backs of people who are beneath them (in their minds).

[zaphod reborn]

And here goes the Nation, sheepishly following the NGO's and global media, claiming that the poor Uighurs are oppressed by the Chinese. That isn't what this smuggling ring is about. If it was, these would be economic and political refugees who would stream across all borders, in any way possible. We don't see women, elderly and children in dire straits crossing over from Cambodia and Laos, do we?

No, these are not refugees. Don't confuse them with people who actually have a need to flee the situation in China. This was a highly organized trafficking operation financed and run by ISIL with the purpose of moving Uighur militants and in which the RTP and the immigration police department used to reap tremendous ill-gotten gains. It has been established that ISIL sent over 100,000 fake Turkish passports to its operatives in Thailand and Malaysia. It is estimated that 50,000 Uighurs crossed the Cambodian border into Thailand and used those passports to board flights to Istanbul. There, the fake passports were detected, but, because they are Uighurs, they are allowed to enter Turkey. These Uighur militants then went on to Syria to fight for ISIL. Their goal is to carve a Muslim caliphate for themselves and call it Uighuristan.

Prayuth and the army stumbled across some Uighurs who were illegally in Thailand. Unwittingly, and without knowing, Prayuth ordered the 109 Uighurs to be repatriated to China, although they demanded to be sent on to Turkey. Because Prayuth disrupted the trafficking operation, ISIL financed, organized and commanded the Uighur and ISIL operatives in Thailand to carry out a series of bombings.

What the police need to focus on is the fact that this smuggling operation was organized and carried out by an international terrorist organization, and that RTP and the entire immigration police department was on the payroll of an international terrorist organization. Unless they are going to investigate and prosecute within their own ranks, Thailand remains a safe haven for trafficking and terrorism.

[duckmandon]

"This would mean that Chinese tourists - of whom more than a million visit Thailand each year - are no longer safe either here or in any destination to which they travel in large numbers."

What a totally ingorant statement. In most civilized countries people can travel safely without fear of terrorism. It can still happen but why would they target Chinese tourists in Australia, New Zealand, England, Europe or even Singapore. Get real & take a good look in the mirror Thailand. This happened here & was retribution for you deporting Uighurs. If your security & border protection was any good at all, then this may not have happened.

[Srikcir]

What the police need to focus on is the fact that this smuggling operation was taking place in the nation's capital, the heart of the government and home to the palace.

It's discovery was only accidental and not part of any concerted government anti-human trafficking operation. It remained as elusive as the human trafficking operations in the deep jungles along the Thai-Malaysia borders that the full might of the Thai military could not intentionally uncover.

Any humantarium efforts credited to the current regime is only an incidential side effect to its paranoia for being discovered to be the toothless tiger that it really is.

[Nobb]

This and the fact that the Thai bomber bribed his way into Thailand. Thru Immigrations and Thai police check points. Get used to it Thailand because your Thai brothers are selling you out! More to come!

[Thai at Heart]

And here goes the Nation, sheepishly following the NGO's and global media, claiming that the poor Uighurs are oppressed by the Chinese. That isn't what this smuggling ring is about. If it was, these would be economic and political refugees who would stream across all borders, in any way possible. We don't see women, elderly and children in dire straits crossing over from Cambodia and Laos, do we?

No, these are not refugees. Don't confuse them with people who actually have a need to flee the situation in China. This was a highly organized trafficking operation financed and run by ISIL with the purpose of moving Uighur militants and in which the RTP and the immigration police department used to reap tremendous ill-gotten gains. It has been established that ISIL sent over 100,000 fake Turkish passports to its operatives in Thailand and Malaysia. It is estimated that 50,000 Uighurs crossed the Cambodian border into Thailand and used those passports to board flights to Istanbul. There, the fake passports were detected, but, because they are Uighurs, they are allowed to enter Turkey. These Uighur militants then went on to Syria to fight for ISIL. Their goal is to carve a Muslim caliphate for themselves and call it Uighuristan.

Prayuth and the army stumbled across some Uighurs who were illegally in Thailand. Unwittingly, and without knowing, Prayuth ordered the 109 Uighurs to be repatriated to China, although they demanded to be sent on to Turkey. Because Prayuth disrupted the trafficking operation, ISIL financed, organized and commanded the Uighur and ISIL operatives in Thailand to carry out a series of bombings.

What the police need to focus on is the fact that this smuggling operation was organized and carried out by an international terrorist organization, and that RTP and the entire immigration police department was on the payroll of an international terrorist organization. Unless they are going to investigate and prosecute within their own ranks, Thailand remains a safe haven for trafficking and terrorism.

Why would Turkey be complicit in aiding ISIL?

You are parroting the Chinese version of events. I can read the China daily too. But I don't hear any western media reporting that a current Nato member, being used to fly sorties over Syria is meanwhile enabling Uighurs to enter and assist isil.