Thai NSC:Uyghur migrants are treated well in China

BANGKOK, July 21 (TNA) - All 109 ethnic Uyghurs sent back to China by the Thai government last month, 20 of them are women, have been treated well and are now staying in the Chinese Xinjiang Province. Anusit Kunakorn, Secretary-General of Thailand's National Security Council (NSC), told journalists of the update on Monday, after returning from China to inspect the livelihood of all the 109 Uyghurs, deported by the Thai government as requested by Beijing on July 8. Anusit said it was found that some of the 109 Uyghurs had persuaded others to escape from China, which was illegal, while many of them reportedly involved in terrorism. According to the NSC chief, the Thai government apparently received this information, which Beijing also received, and the two countries had, thus, done everything in accordance with the international law. The NSC chief revealed that he will report the livelihood of the 109 ethnic Uyghurs in China to Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who oversees national security and who is also Defence Minister, so that he will convey the information to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha, after which the issue will be explained to the international community. The NSC chief noted that the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasked with clarifying to international organisations how the Chinese and the Thai governments are dealing with the deported Uighurs. Meanwhile, there are about 60 Uyghur migrants left in Thailand, awaiting nationality verification and checking whether they carry any criminal record in China before escaping to the Thai Kingdom. The Uyghur migrants, who fled China’s northwestern Xinjiang Province in March 2015, have been detained by Thai immigration authorities on charges of entering Thailand illegally. Turkey earlier requested Thailand not to send the arrested Uyghur migrants to China on fears that they could be punished by death sentence. (TNA)