BANGKOK – A Thai court said on Tuesday it saw merit in a petition to free 43 Uyghurs who have spent more than a decade in detention, ordering the head of the country’s Immigration Bureau to appear for questioning.
Human rights groups fear the men could be deported to China where they would be at risk of torture. Lawyer Chuchart Kanpai submitted a petition on Jan. 29 arguing that the Uyghurs had spent enough time detained on immigration charges and they should be set free.
The court held its first hearing on the petition last Friday and convened again on Tuesday.
“After hearing the petitioner’s witnesses, the court finds merit in the petition and orders the Immigration Bureau Commissioner or representative to appear in court on March 27,” the court said.
Apart from the 43, being held at an immigration detention facility in Bangkok, there are five more, who have not been included in the petition, detained in prison after trying to escape.
The 48 Uyghurs remaining in Thai detention were part of a cohort of more than 350 Uyghur men, women and children, who left China in the hope of finding resettlement abroad and were stopped in Thailand.
Uyghurs in China’s vast Xinjiang region have been subjected to widespread human rights abuses, including detention in massive concentration camps. Beijing denies that.
Turkey did accept 172 of them while Thailand sent 109 of them back to China and faced a storm of international criticism for the decision.
Thailand has in recent weeks brushed off the concern of rights groups that the Uyghurs being held would also be deported. U.N. experts on Jan. 21 urged the kingdom not to repatriate them saying they would likely face torture in China.
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Attorney Chuchart said that he expected a final decision within two months.
“The court sees potential illegality in the detention and will question why these 43 Uyghurs remain detained after serving their sentences for illegal entry,” he told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
“If the detention is found unlawful, the court may order their release or allow other agencies to guarantee their temporary stay while awaiting third-country resettlement,” he added.
None of the Uyghur detainees appeared in court.
The director of a Thai human rights group, the People’s Empowerment Foundation, welcomed the court’s decision but said she still feared pressure from China.
“While it’s positive that the court will hear from immigration officials, we hope the Uyghur detainees themselves will be called to testify for a comprehensive understanding,” Chalida Tajaroensuk told BenarNews.
“Our main concern is political interference, particularly Chinese influence over the case. If they can resettle in a third country, everything would end peacefully,” she said.
Chuchart also said if the court were to order the release of the men, the government would have to come up with a resettlement option that wouldn’t damage relations with China while ensuring the Uyghurs’ safety.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.