Thai delegation visits Uighurs, seeking to quell fears of mistreatment in China

BANGKOK – A delegation of Thai officials and journalists arrived in China’s north-western Xinjiang region on March 19, seeking to calm worries about mistreatment of a group of 40 Uighurs who were deported from Thailand in February.

The government sent the delegation on a mission to reassure the public, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters in Bangkok.

Thailand sent back the group of Uighurs in a secretive pre-dawn operation that drew a sharp rebuke from Western countries. The United States last week hit unnamed Thai officials with visa sanctions over the deportation.

Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority numbering about 10 million in the Xinjiang region. Beijing, in turn, denies any abuse and has accused Western countries of interference and of peddling lies.

The Thai government, which said it deported the Uighurs because they had been in detention for a decade, has repeatedly said it has received reassurance from China over Uighur safety.

Reuters has reported that Canada and the US offered to resettle the Uighurs who were returned to China, but that Bangkok feared upsetting China. Thailand, however, said it received no concrete offers.

The 40 people deported were from a group of 300 Uighurs who fled China and were arrested in 2014 in Thailand. Some were sent back to China, others to Turkey, and the rest kept in Thai custody until the deportation in February.

“If any country wants anything more or wants clarity, we are happy to provide it… There is nothing we cannot disclose. It only depends on time,” Ms Paetongtarn said.

Her government said on March 19 that only five of the 40 Uighurs will be made available during the visit.

China played down the significance of the mission, giving no details.

At a regular briefing on March 19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reiterated that the repatriation was a “normal law enforcement cooperation” with Thailand.

She added that the rights of those concerned were being observed according to international laws.

Among the 40 deported Uighurs, most have already returned home, while a few who were previously ill were still receiving treatment in hospitals, Thailand’s Defence Ministry said in a separate statement on March 19, citing a briefing from Chinese officials.

The delegation, accompanied by officials from China’s public security ministry, was expected to form two groups, according to Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub.

One was set to visit the Uighur returnees at their “private residences” about 100km to 200km from the city of Kashgar, late on March 19.

The other group would speak to Uighurs more than 500km away via a video call, and also visit local villages, a mosque and speak with Islamic religious leaders, Mr Jirayu said. REUTERS