Thai govt admits other countries were willing to take Uyghurs
Foreign Ministry says defying China by sending 40 Uyghurs to third country could have severely impacted Thailand
Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Ras Chaleechan on Wednesday admitted he had failed to disclose all the information when announcing earlier this week that no other country had formally asked to take in 40 Uyghurs detained for 11 years in Thailand before being forcibly repatriated to China last month.
“Some countries had requested to take them in, but I chose not to name these countries to avoid impacting other nations,” he said. “I also used the phrase ‘no country is firmly committed to accepting them’, because simply saying that a country is ‘ready to accept’ does not mean it is a feasible action for Thailand.”
He insisted that the Foreign Ministry had to consider the impact of sending Uyghurs to a third country, especially the reaction of China, that could impact the lives of Thai people.
Ras said the ministry might have been able to discreetly send the Uyghurs to a third country in the early stages, before the issue was widely reported and there was little pressure on Thailand.
Ras spoke after Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang said the Foreign Ministry’s initial statement was contradicted by a Reuters report that three countries had expressed willingness to take in the Uyghur detainees.
Reuters reported that the United States, Canada, and Australia had communicated their willingness to give the Uyghurs sanctuary, citing diplomatic sources.
The 40 Uyghurs had spent more than a decade in detention after illegally entering Thailand. They were deported to China on February 27 via a chartered flight operated by a Chinese civil aviation company that landed in Xinjiang, China.
The forcibly repatriation drew condemnation from the UN, US and other countries. China has been accused of perpetrating cultural genocide against the Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, detaining over 1 million in “reeducation camps” while destroying mosques and banning religious expression.
A few days after their arrival, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand posted photos of 40 repatriated individuals joining their families in Xinjiang for the first time. The embassy however did not mention their Uyghur ethnicity.
