Aftermath of Chinese persecution in Xinjiang: 3 Uyghurs flee Thailand detention centre

Three Uyghur men, who had fled China’s Xinjiang region and were kept in Thailand’s immigration detention centre, have escaped, media reports said. After facing a harsh clampdown in China, many Uyghurs, a Muslim minority who have long endured persecution and repression by the Chinese government, have tried to travel through Thailand in the hope of finding asylum in Turkey or other countries.

However, many of them are still held in Thailand detention centres and are in an immigration limbo. On one hand, China wants these Uyghur minorities back but on the other hand, Thailand has not yet decided what to do, said Chalida Tajaroensuk, director of the People’s Empowerment Foundation, a Thai NGO that assists Uyghur refugees in the country, reported Radio Free Asia. “They have been detained for nearly 10 years. So the government should consider releasing them, find them a good place to live … and never, ever send them back to China because that means sending them to death,” Chalida told BenarNews, online news service affiliated with Radio Free Asia, in June.

“Also, we would be very grateful if the Thai government allowed them to leave for third-country asylum. But it has hit a deadlock due to the Chinese government’s pressure on Thailand.” The latest incident of escape of these three Uyghur men occurred days after rights organizations called on the Thailand government to end prolonged detentions. In the wake of this escape, Thai authorities are searching for three Uyghur men, the media outlet reported citing a police investigator.

Police officer Col. Rattapong Tiasud said that the trio broke out of their cell before dawn. To accomplish their escape mission, the fugitives used a sharp tool. They used it to escape the metal bars of the detention center in Prachuap Khiri Khan, one of the western provinces of Thailand. “We are searching for them, and I’m awaiting reports from the ground. The search is a bit slow because of the public holidays lately,” said Rattapong, an investigator at the immigration bureau. He identified the escapees by one name each – Ali, 25, Abdulla, 30, and Abdullah, 29.

Human Rights Groups have been constantly highlighting the cases of Uyghurs being persecuted in China. Chinese authorities have been waging blatant human rights violations on the Turkic-speaking minorities including Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Authorities in China arbitrary arrest and keep the Uyghur minorities under long detentions in internment camps. US have also been very critical of Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs and has outrightly called it genocide. US state department’s annual report on the state of human rights worldwide confirms Beijing’s repressive regime.

According to a Thai activist, around 52 to 56 Uyghurs were being held at detention centres nationwide. The exodus of Uyghurs began in 2013 and 2014 when about 475 fled to Thailand. Since then, other Uyghurs have entered the country in a series of smaller waves. Last week, the World Uyghur Congress announced it was among 52 international organizations calling for an end to the prolonged detention of Uyghurs by the Thai government.

The statement, released on July 8, marked the seventh anniversary of the forced deportation of about 100 Uyghurs, including women and children to China. The deportation occurred after Thailand sent about 170 women and children to Turkey, a traditional haven for Uyghurs fleeing persecution in Xinjiang. WUC statement came after more than a dozen Thai and international organizations lodged a petition to the parliament’s foreign affairs committee seeking assurances that those being held in Thailand would not be sent back to China. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)