Parnpree shrugs off calls to not deport Russian band, says case with NSC
Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara on Wednesday dismissed calls by human rights groups not to deport the Russian-Belarussian band Bi-2, saying if they violated Thai law, then they must be deported.
He added that the National Security Council was checking the case to find out what nationalities the band members were, so they could be deported to their respective countries.
“Once the NSC finds out who they are and what nationality they have, the government will consider deporting them back to their countries,” Parnpree said.
“We must wait for the NSC to finish checking first, and once that is done, the [deportation] process can start immediately.”
Seven members of the Russian-Belarusian rock band Bi-2 were detained by Thai immigration authorities in Phuket on January 24 for performing without a work permit.
Bi-2 is known for its anti-war stance and criticism of the Russian government, which has led to them being labelled as "foreign agents" in Russia. As a result, Human Rights Watch warned that they may be in deep danger if they are deported back to Russia.
Sunai Phasuk, an advisor to Human Rights Watch in Thailand, told BBC Thai that if the Bi-2 band members were deported, this would be the first blatant human rights violation caused by the Srettha Thavisin government.
He also warned that the deportation of the Bi-2 rockers would be in violation of the human rights treaty that Prime Minister Srettha had promised to observe in his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York last year.
When told by reporters that the band members were worried about their safety if deported, Parnpree reiterated that if they had not violated the law, they would not face deportation.
“But if they are found to have violated the law, we must proceed in line with the law,” he said.
The band reportedly told their lawyer that they believed Russia was behind their arrest after they publicly expressed opposition to the war against Ukraine.
