Border police yesterday continued to deny their alleged involvement in detaining and subsequently deporting a group of 15 ethnic Uighurs to Thailand \u2013 where they were arrested \u2013 even as a prominent Uighur rights group condemned the Kingdom\u2019s track record in dealing with the Turkic ethnic minority.<\/p>\n
Fri, 28 March 2014 Stuart White<\/p>\n
Border police yesterday continued to deny their alleged involvement in detaining and subsequently deporting a group of 15 ethnic Uighurs to Thailand \u2013 where they were arrested \u2013 even as a prominent Uighur rights group condemned the Kingdom\u2019s track record in dealing with the Turkic ethnic minority.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch, citing sources in the Thai government, said on Wednesday that 15 Uighurs detained in Thailand on Sunday had been first detained in Banteay Meanchey province\u2019s border town of Poipet, an account corroborated by an eyewitness statement provided to the Post.<\/p>\n
But So Channary, commander of Banteay Meanchey\u2019s 911 border police unit, maintained that his forces \u201cnever arrested any of them, recently or now\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never netted them at all,\u201d he went on to say.<\/p>\n
But the denials didn\u2019t spare the government any criticism.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime and again, Cambodia failed to protect Uyghur refugees by refusing to uphold its obligations under the UN Refugee Convention which it ratified,\u201d World Uyghur Congress spokesman Alim Seytoff said via email yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cCambodia should be condemned for its violation of international law and complete disregard of the UN Refugee Convention.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it is Thailand\u2019s duty to protect these Uyghur refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vivian Tan, a spokesperson for the UNHCR office in Bangkok, said that she had received no word of an asylum request from the 15, but noted that people fleeing persecution sometimes opt not to seek asylum.<\/p>\n
And while she had no firsthand knowledge of the case, Tan added that Thailand has accepted more than a million refugees in recent decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThailand has not acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention, but it has been hosting refugees for a very long time,\u201d Tan said, admitting that \u201coccasionally it can be challenging, because the country lacks national legislation or a national system to process asylum cases\u201d.<\/p>\n
HRW\u2019s Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said yesterday that he had received no new word on the 15 Uighurs. Robertson also pointed to Thailand\u2019s \u201cvery mixed record on asylum seekers,\u201d noting that, \u201cfor Uighurs, Thailand has often failed to provide them with support and protection\u201d.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Uighurs would have been no better off in Cambodia, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that Uighurs from China, and dissidents, bloggers, and Khmer Krom activists from Vietnam flee through Cambodia to Thailand should tell you something about how poor Cambodia\u2019s record is in refugee protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHEANG SOKHA AND KEVIN PONNIAH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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