BANGKOK – Three Uyghur men with Kyrgyz passports who languished in Thai detention for more than a decade were resettled in Canada earlier this month, an advocacy group said Monday, avoiding the fate of dozens of Uyghurs deported from Thailand to China.
The men were among more than 300 Uyghurs who fled China in 2014, where the ethnic minority faces sustained persecution, only to be apprehended by authorities in Thailand, setting off a prolonged tug-of-war over their fate.
As recently as February, Thailand deported 40 Uyghur men to China, triggering international condemnation.
“The trio who held Kyrgyzstani passports went to Canada after the Thai new year,” Chalida Tajaroensuk, director of the People’s Empowerment Foundation, told Radio Free Asia.
“Unlike others, they were allowed to meet UNHCR officials and receive refugee status, so they were finally released,” Chalida said, referring to the U.N. refugee agency.
The foundation has advocated for the Uyghur detainees since their 2014 arrests.
Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from the northwestern region of China known as Xinjiang in Chinese. The Uyghurs refer to their region as East Turkestan – a name that reflects shared linguistic and cultural roots with other central Asian peoples along the historic Silk Road, including Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.
Uyghurs in Xinjiang have been subjected to widespread human rights abuses, including detention in massive concentration camps, according to foreign governments including the U.S. and human rights groups. Beijing has described the camps as vocational training centers and denied any abuses.
Thailand has strong ties with China, the region’s dominant economic player. China is among the top trading partners and foreign investors in Thailand, and its leading source of foreign tourists.
In 2015, Thailand allowed about 170 Uyghurs to be resettled in Turkey but also deported 109 Uyghurs to China, which triggered a deadly reprisal bomb attack in Bangkok in August of the same year.
The Canadian embassy in Bangkok did not respond to RFA’s questions about the resettlement of the three men.
A Thai government spokesman said he had no knowledge of the arrangement.
The Bangkok Post newspaper, citing unnamed diplomatic and Thai government sources, said the men were not deported to China because they held Kyrgyzstan passports.
Chalida said another five Uyghur men are serving prison terms for a jailbreak and could be released in a year or two.
The Thai government has previously said it would deport the five Uyghurs detained in Klong Prem Prison to China once they complete their sentences.
“I am still concerned with the other five Uyghurs who are serving jail terms at Klong Prem Prison. They might be released next year or a year later but are prone to deportation to China,” Chalida said.
“If any countries show clear intention to receive them, Thai authorities may consider that.”
Chalida also said two suspected perpetrators of the August 2015 bombing, who are in a military prison – Adem Karadag and Yusufu Meiraili – will have another hearing on May 15.
Of the original detained group, three died during their imprisonment in Thailand.
Edited by Stephen Wright and Mike Firn.