Thread: Thailand Forcibly Repatriating More Than 90 Uyghurs to China: Exile Group

More than 90 ethnic Uyghurs, including women and children, are facing immediate deportation from Thailand, where they have been detained for more than a year for illegally entering the country while fleeing persecution in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, a Uyghur exile group said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) cited a source as saying the Uyghurs, who were detained by Thai immigration authorities, were transported from five detention centers across Thailand Wednesday to a military airport close to the capital Bangkok.

The move to deport the Uyghur detainees was also reported by Turkish newspaper Yenisafak, quoting a social worker who had assisted a group of the Uyghurs detained in Bangkok.

“We have learned that Uyghurs were taken to the military airport in handcuffs with three military vehicles,” Bilal Degirmeci of the Turkish aid group Cansuyu, told the paper.

“[The authorities] said 50 male and 25 female detainees were taken from the Bangkok detention center.”

According to the WUC’s source, the women and children from the five detention centers had already been taken onboard, while the men had “resisted getting on a plane heading to China” amid a heavy Thai army presence at the airport.

The Thai army is using “a special chemical gas” to knock the men unconscious and force them onto the plane, the source said.

Thai authorities could not immediately be reached to confirm reports of the deportation.

More here: Thailand Forcibly Repatriating More Than 90 Uyghurs to China: Exile Group

Good God, the Thais really are nuts. Gassing people before putting them a plane?

UK could learn a lot from Thais in this respect, only we would have to be returning thousands a week.

^All gassed at the boarding gate?

Violent protests at the Thai consulate in Ankara as a result of this - windows broken and flag pulled down. Thai citizens have been warned to keep a low profile in Turkey.

^Should not be too difficult, most of them are pretty short to start with!

Well, this is the sort of government most supporters of Suthep wanted so at least they will be happy , if they even notice.

Thai consulate in Turkey attacked for deporting Uighurs - BBC News

the Thai embassy has been smashed up.

Thai Junta Chairman Defends Deporting Uighurs to China

BANGKOK — Junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has defended his government’s decision to deport nearly 100 members of a persecuted ethnic minority to China.

Officials confirmed that 90 Uighurs who entered Thailand illegally were flown this morning to China, where human rights groups have documented state-sanctioned discrimination against the Muslim group. One hundred and seventy three other Uighur immigrants were also sent to Turkey last week, according to a government spokesperson.

Last night, crowds attacked the Thai Consulate in Istanbul to protest the Uighur’s impending deportation to China. The protesters broke into the Consulate office and smashed windows, according to Thai officials.

In a statement issued today, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed alarm at the Thai government’s move.

"UNHCR urges the Royal Thai Government in the strongest possible terms to allow those remaining to depart voluntarily and as soon as possible to a country of their choice which is willing to receive them,” the statement said.

Speaking to reporters today, Gen. Prayuth said his government has fully adhered to "laws and international obligations" by identifying the nationalities of the Uighur immigrants and sending them back to their respective countries.

"As an intermediary country, we have to inspect and categorize them clearly," Gen. Prayuth said. "If we didn't do this, there would be problems."

When a reporter asked whether Gen. Prayuth is confident that the Uighurs sent back to China will be safe, the junta chairman replied,

"China has guaranteed their safety to us. They insist they will be processed in justice system. If they are not involved [in any wrongdoings] they will be freed. They will be given jobs. If evidence clearly establishes [their guilt], they will face legal action, and the severity will depend on their offence."

Maj Gen Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak, a spokesperson of the Thai government, said this morning that Chinese authorities have assured Thailand that the deported Uighurs will be provided with jobs, welfare, and "assistance consistent with human rights principles."

More here: Thai Junta Chairman Defends Deporting Uighurs to China

Thailand Rejects Claims it Killed Uyghurs Who Resisted Deportation

The Thai government on Thursday rejected a claim by the World Uyghur Congress that at least 25 men among a group of nearly 100 Uyghurs had been killed when they resisted moves by authorities to forcibly repatriate them to China.

Thai authorities confirmed Thursday it had forcibly repatriated nearly 100 Uyghurs to China, a move that drew criticism from human rights groups and protests in Turkey over the expulsion of the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority that suffers harsh repression under Chinese rule.

In a statement, the WUC had asserted that it has “direct information over the phone from a source on the ground in Thailand who indicated that at least 25 men were also killed trying to resist boarding the plane.”

But Thai government deputy spokesman Weerachon Sukhontapatipak told Radio Free Asia that “there was no such thing as claimed by WUC.”

The Munich-based WUC appeared to have removed the claim about the killing hours after publishing the statement on its website Thursday. The group had a day earlier accurately reported the impending expulsion of the more than 90 Uyghurs.

Another Thai government source, speaking on condition of anonymity to RFA, also dismissed the WUC claim.

“It is not true. There was no killing as claimed by the WUC,” he said, adding that Thai authorities could provide video evidence to show that there was no deaths in the run up to the repatriation.

I believe we can prove this with sort of evidence, perhaps video footage, which I believe we may have during the operation,” he said.

Initial report of 25 shot dead

The WUC said in its statement that a first plane was loaded primarily with women and children, along with a small group of men, and departed without incident.

“The second plane, however, was “intended to transport around 65 men, but authorities faced some resistance from the men in doing so.”

It said that in the process 25 men were killed. Later, the paragraph on the killing was removed from its statement on its website.



Thailand Rejects Claims it Killed Uyghurs Who Resisted Deportation

None of this is surprising. Prayut is eager to please his Chinese masters.

Stricter security ordered after worldwide criticism over Uighur deportation

BANGKOK, 10 July 2015 (NNT) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered Thai embassies and consulates-general worldwide to step up security for the safety of Thai nationals after worldwide criticism over Thai Government’s deportations of a hundred Uighur refugees to China, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sek Wannamethee revealed on Friday.

Mr.Sek continued that the ministry has emphasized to all Thai embassies across the world to keep contact with the Thai communities in their respective countries and step up security at their premises.

The Turkish government has tightened security at the Thai Embassy in Ankara as well as Thai communities in the country. The embassy’s officials still work normally except those in the consular section which is temporarily closed. Thais in Turkey are able to contact the embassy by phone to ensure their safety.

In Germany, more police have been deployed around the Thai Embassy in Berlin on Friday afternoon following reports of a possible protest.

Mr.Sek mentioned the Muslim Uighurs illegally entered Thai territory by claiming that they were Turkish. Sixty Uighurs staying in Thailand are pending citizenship verification, and authorities are conducting the process with discretion.

?????????????????? : Stricter security ordered after worldwide criticism over Uighur deportation

Uighurs will breed like......?

Embassies ordered to ensure safety of Thai expatriates - The Nation


THE Foreign Ministry has instructed Thai embassies and consulates around the world to ensure safety for Thai nationals, following the attack on a Thai consulate in Turkey three days ago.

Sek Wannamethee, director-general of the ministry's Department of Information, said yesterday that Thai missions overseas were also instructed to increase security measures within their compounds.

The move came after some 200 Turkish protesters stormed into the Thai honorary consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday night, in protest at Thailand's deportation of more than 100 Uighur Muslims to China.

The protesters broke down the doors to the building, smashed its windows, pulled down the sign outside and damaged furnishings inside. The Thai flag was pulled down and the building pelted with stones. Files and documents were flung outside and littered the street.

Sek said the Turkish government had increased security to the Thai Embassy in Ankara, the capital in the centre of the country, and the Thai community after the Istanbul attack.

Consular services were suspended again yesterday at the embassy for the safety of Thai expatriates there.

Meanwhile, the Thai Embassy in Berlin, in Germany, warned through its Facebook page that there would be a protest outside the mission later yesterday.

The embassy was informed by local police, who got a request from protest organisers to hold the demonstration over Thailand's forced repatriation of 100 Uighur migrants back to China.

Thai nationals in Germany were advised by the embassy to avoid visiting the compound during the time of protest yesterday evening.

Sek said yesterday that German police increased security for the Thai Embassy in Berlin in preparation for the demonstration.

The Thai consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, also advised Thai nationals in Europe to avoid commenting or arguing about the issue in the presence of Uighurs or Turks.

Uighurs in China's Xinjiang region, numbering about 10 million, say they face discrimination from Beijing. China has launched a crackdown in the region in response to rising violence that state authorities blame on Islamist separatists.

Under pressure from Beijing, countries including Cambodia, Malaysia and Pakistan have all forcibly returned members of the ethnic minority to China in recent years, Agence France-Presse reported.

Why should we let the Uighur migrants stay here and “breed litters of children”? says PM Prayut Chan-o-cha in his customary UNHCR-is-not-my-father tone. “Litters of children” — the unit term usually used to describe dogs and other animals, was employed without a blink here. In the original Thai, the PM used the word krok, a rougher, throatier and much more derogatory term than the English equivalent. Krok gives the image of animal lust. It signifies a large number of puppies crawling from the belly of a bitch. It’s not the term any mother would want to be heard describing their children.

Should the Uighurs stay here — or be sent to Turkey, or packed off to China, or pushed back to the desert from where they came — is one problem. The way we handle the press about this matter is another. And yet the most worrying problem is why our PM couldn’t negotiate the hot water of international migration with a more measured and mature attitude. His “krok of children” is not a gaffe, though it would give us consolation to think so. From the way he uttered it, forcefully and spontaneously, it didn’t seem like a conscious choice of words; it flowed out of him, it was subconscious, which is worse, because it points to something deeper, something symptomatic of the military doctrine that has become a mainstream agenda: Race-based nationalism, which validates us to treat others — it doesn’t matter if they’re illegal immigrants — as beneath us.

More...

Dancing to nationalism's outdated tune | Bangkok Post: opinion

Originally Posted by misskit

The Thai government on Thursday rejected a claim by the World Uyghur Congress that at least 25 men among a group of nearly 100 Uyghurs had been killed when they resisted moves by authorities to forcibly repatriate them to China.

Given china's interest in using uyghurs and before them Falun gong as organ transplant sources I would have thought chinese would really want these chaps back alive.

Has Turkey requested them to be sent there?

Prayuth - what a cockgobbler.

Maj Gen Sunsern: Thai government has done everything right in the repatriation of Uighurs

BANGKOK, 13 July 2015 (NNT) - The Thai government is confident that the repatriation of Muslim Uighurs was the right way to handle the illegal arrivals situation.

Deputy government spokesman Maj Gen Sunsern Kaewkumnerd, said that as Thailand has followed every appropriate step in the repatriation of 109 Uighurs, the public should trust in the government’s judgement.

Maj Gen Sunsern stated that where there is proof of law-breaking in another country, and where nationality verification has proven the origins of the illegal immigrants involved, Thailand has no choice but to send them back.

He is positive that the antagonism directed at Thailand will ease once each party acknowledges logical argument and accepts rationale over the emotion of the situation.

The deputy government spokesman is also hoping that when all involved respect local and international laws while cooperating more to solve the problem, the situation will soon return to normal. -

http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/....icEFkREM.dpuf

US, EU Condemn Thailand's Deportation of Uighurs

The European Union has joined the United States in condemning Thailand’s forced deportation of more than 100 ethnic Uighurs to China, where they could face harsh treatment and a lack of due process.

An EU statement Saturday called the deportation a violation of core principles of international humanitarian law.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it was shocked by the forced deportations, saying it had been given assurances by Thai officials that the individuals would be treated in accordance with international legal standards.

Thailand sent the more than 100 Uighurs, including women and children back to China despite the willingness of Turkey to accept them.

Friday, Thailand closed its embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul after protests against the deportations.

Muslim minority group

Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority living in northwestern China's Xinjiang region. They have long complained of official discrimination.

China said the Uighurs who flee want to join overseas terrorist groups.

Thai government spokesman Major General Verachon Sukhonthapatipak said Thursday the Uighur migrants in question had been detained for over a year.

The spokesman said the migrants were sent back to China after it was determined they were Chinese. About 170 others were found to be Turkish and sent to Turkey.

He said Thailand received assurances from Beijing that the migrants would not be harmed, but that failed to satisfy many human rights groups.

The United States urged Thai officials to allow ethnic Uighurs remaining in Thailand to depart voluntarily to a country of their choice.

US, EU Condemn Thailand's Deportation of Uighurs

China has guaranteed their safety to us.

Yup, the red carpet treatment has started....

Inflight service in first class was excellent. A credit to Chinese hospitality...

Prayuth seems to be spawn of the kunts in Bejing. He'd fit right in with them.