Refugee in Thailand? Disenfranchisement and possible deportation to hostile territory
A market in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China. (Editorial credit: Kylie Nicholson / Shutterstock.com)
We are no longer surprised that Thailand is unceremoniously sending refugees across the border for the violence in Myanmar. Back to the violence of war.
Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol and lacks legislation for the reception/treatment of refugees. That treaty has been signed by Cambodia, but not by countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia. Thailand did sign the meaningless Marrakesh Migration Declaration 2018.
Surprised that Rohingya refugees in their rickety boats were chased back to sea by the Thai navy? And that groups of Rohingya in the south of Thailand were 'housed' deep in the forests by criminals and were abused for odd jobs? Places have even been found where their corpses were simply deposited in a hole in the ground…
(Editorial credit: Sirio Carnevalino / Shutterstock.com)
A miserable life awaits refugee Uyghurs in Thailand
Who are the Uighurs? People of Turkish origin who settled in the northwest of what is now China, the Xinjiang region, and in what is now the Republic of Mongolia in the eighth century. The Uyghur population in China is twelve million people. They are Muslims and that's where the shoe pinches.
China has only one god and that is boss-for-life Xi Jinping. All other 'religions' are banned, including Islam, Tibetan Buddhism, and even the official Chinese Catholic Church, tolerated by Rome's gritted teeth. 'Religion is the opium of the people', Karl Marx (1818-1883) once wrote and China puts it into practice.
Since 2013, 350 Uighurs have been arrested in Thailand, half of whom, women and children, have moved to Turkey. Some of the men were taken to China where an unknown fate awaits them, such as a life in internment camps. What life is like there is described on the Radio Free Asia website (https://www.rfa.org/english/).
At the moment about 50 Uyghurs in Thailand are staying in a filthy detention center on soi Suan Phlu in Bangkok. The conditions there are unhygienic and people have no access to healthcare, lawyers or international aid organizations.
Last week, a 40-year-old Uyghur man passed away after a nine-year stay; he had liver and breathing problems. Before that, four Uyghurs, including a three-year-old child, died of TB in that center.
An inhumane attitude on the part of Thailand.
Even if you don't have specific legislation, you can still offer those people a dignified stay and not a place in a pigsty. You have to look for hygienic detention centers and prisons in Thailand with a light, but they are there with some good will… But Thailand has so far shown its worst side here.
Summarized and edited by Erik Kuijpers. Source in English: https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3wd87/uyghur-asylum-seeker-dies-in-thai-detention and see also mentioned website of Radio Free Asia.
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- Built in 1946. Nicknamed 'Running tax almanac' and worked in that profession for 36 years. Moved to Thailand at 55. Disability forced him from his family in Nongkhai to a house with home care and mobility scooter in Súdwest-Fryslân.
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What a colorful article.
We Westerners are so civilized and always do everything much better ourselves.
So there's nothing we like more than pointing the finger at the rest of the world what to do.
Our meddling knows no bounds.
'Colored article'?? Because the facts you
not on??
It is a bit more nuanced:
“Freedom of religion is enshrined in the Chinese Constitution, but at the same time the Constitution states that the state only protects “normal” religious activities. Nowhere is it defined what 'normal' means, but in practice this means that there is only protection for activities organized by registered religious organizations controlled by the state and the communist party. In addition, the Constitution states that no one may use religion to engage in activities that undermine public order, harm the health of citizens, or affect the state's education system.”
Thailand has indeed not signed any refugee treaties.
This means that Thailand has no refugees but only illegal immigrants.
This is much more of an issue for the thousands of Burmese who have fled their country (and for decades, by the way) and who live in camps on Thai territory than for the Uyghurs.
A neat and true article by Erik Kuijpers, thanks for that.
Unfortunately, it is one of the less positive sides of Thailand and most neighboring countries, including China, that one can be really merciless towards "the other". If Europe acted like Thailand, millions of refugees would just drown in the Mediterranean and we wouldn't shed a tear. No, that really is a Ruecksichtlosigkeit beyond our imagination. Good thing, too.
On an individual level, on the other hand, people in Thailand are just like the average European and the average person anywhere in the world.
Ironically, China (alongside the Philippines and Cambodia) is one of the few signatories in the region. A look at the world map shows that roughly almost all countries except this region and various countries in the Middle East are not affiliated with the treaties. That “refugee reception” would be “something Western” I would refer to the realm of fables.
With some regularity we can see the appalling treatment by Thailand of people on the run (often in transit to elsewhere). Only a few years ago, several people on the run made the news because the Thai authorities arrested these people and wanted to send them back to their country of origin, where they would face a high risk of death or other misery. Even people who had received a status from the UN office in Bangkok were deported or almost deported several times by the Thai authorities until international pressure became too great.
It seems here not only a lack of "Buddhist norms and values" by the authorities, but that for one or other reason they may not want to harm the interests/ties with the countries from which these people flee? The big "green", army green that is, imprint on many governments gives little hope for a little decent dealings with these people. With a lot of pain and effort, some improvements have been made in the past 2 decades, but we can still regularly read the scandalous treatment of refugees and illegal immigrants.
I always wonder… what if the roles were reversed and people (especially if they are not wealthy) had to flee? As long as the countries in the region are also of the army green print and sometimes help each other with less fresh business, I think the powers that be will not be much bombs.
As for the reason for fleeing from China, that is a bit more complex than "because these people have a faith". To some extent the Chinese seem to allow you to follow any religion, but as soon as they think you are fanatical (wrongly or not), or belong to a risk group that could be/become fanatical, then you run chance of one of the fine correction schools / camps. The excesses that take place there do filter through to us (be careful not to haphazardly follow American media, for example, which in turn propagate very much on a “China is evil itself” image). The Chinese are not completely stupid either, of course, they have learned, just like the Russians themselves at the time, that hard suppression of faith does not work, you can't beat that out. As the saying goes “opium” harms man but also brings relief from pain. Reducing, very limited use and ultimately renouncing it is then more logical than immediately refraining people from opium (belief) on punishments of torture or death.
Anyway, the Uyghurs and other people who flee their country of origin will, as far as I see, often do so sincerely because a little normal life in their own country is no longer possible. At the very least, you can then grant these people free passage (also saves people smuggling) and if you really care about your fellow man, you will receive some of the people for some time. Such a thing is only possible in an international context, so that the pain can be shared. That is sometimes difficult because of the NIMBY (not in my backyard) effect, but that is always better than playing the ostrich by sending these people back or locking them up and throwing the key away….
Who signed the UN conventions on refugees?
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_Relating_to_the_Status_of_Refugees
http://www.hopeforhillpeople.com/ Dutch people who help these people
do a lot of good work
I learned it through Asean now. There are even 2 human rights organizations mentioned, which have done little (?) in 9 years. That's the time this man was sitting there.
The article comes out
https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/another-uyghur-refugee-dies-after-9-years-in-thailand-detention-centre
In it I also read that Thailand has sent a number of Uyghurs to Turkey and some directly back to China. Probably rejected on the basis of background research that Turkey is conducting.
Should read that Turkey does that, strangely.
Reasons are then known only in Turkey, but condemn these refugees to the transformation camps in China.
There was a documentary on TV about this. Perhaps to check with NPO, although you will have to go back quite a bit in time.
Turkey now does not want more Uyghurs, which could be related to the increasing trade with China and brings a nice penny to the state. So Turkey is being blackmailed by China? Money over people. It seems that Turkey has allowed Uyghurs since 1952, although I have not seen this complied with anywhere.
I did some searching based on the article and an answer about Uighurs being Turkish related. Which turned out to be true. It intrigued me. and then you will automatically find out all kinds of facts(?).
However, it's not just Thailand. If you are still searching on NPO, you may be able to find the documentary about Australia. A civilized country that stores refugees in prisons or on an island, where no other support is provided. They are simply left to rot.
Refugees are also locked up in the “special prisons” for years.
Until you die and you're finally free?
And is Europe so different, NO.
The irony, people have to flee from their own country and then end up in a country, where they are also prisoners
You don't hear about it anymore, but children were taken in as refugees in the Netherlands and they were kicked out of the country at a certain age. It is called civilized.
With a German pronunciation ending “Zum Kotzen”, sounds nice and strong.
Bennietpeter, Turkey has only taken in women and children. Whether that was at the request of Turkey or at the insistence of China, no idea. I remember that Erdogan first raged against the treatment of Uyghurs in China, but after a visit to Xi Jinping suddenly changed his tone. China may have rattled with the well-filled purse…
It seems to be much worse with the Uighurs.
When you read this article you really think, wtf?
https://dekanttekening.nl/wereld/waarom-moslimlanden-de-islamitische-oeigoeren-laten-stikken/
It is clearly stated that China has declared the Uyghurs terrorists and has made this global through trade manipulations, blackmail.
The entire Islamic community is dropping this group and damning them.
A Thailand, Buddhist, has therefore also succumbed to the “money.
Religion is nothing, just an indoctrination system with or without a god. Because Buddha was not a god.
And Turkey ditto, but worse because Uyghurs are Turkish and Islamic. But yes, so are the Kurds and they don't have it well in Turkey either.
Well, I can do copy paste, but if you click the link above, you can read about it nicely and be amazed yourself. Or not, as being a normal image in our world?
In the past there was more chopping, today oppression in the financial field.
People always form groups and then things always go wrong, see the history of man in the past and now. Personal well-being, capitalist egoism has always been and is always true.
If I understand the article correctly, it mainly concerns Muslim refugees.
Recently I saw a picture of a flaunting Xi Jinping together with Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (King of SA) and a leader from Yemen, because indeed Mr. Jinping has secured a (temporary) peace agreement between the two countries.!
So, that man who so to speak treats all Muslims (Uighurs) in his own country China as “dogs” is praised by two fanatical Muslim leaders!
Understand who can.
Europe has to deal with a lot of refugees of which 90% are Muslims (think of Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Algeria ..).
Not far from those countries you have other thriving, Muslim, countries like Qatar, Emirates, Saudi Arabia..
The latter countries "import" cheap labor from Kenya, Philippines, India .. not really Muslim countries I would say.
Why are those Muslim refugees from Syria, Libya, Sudan … not taken care of by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Emeritaten, Kuwait … since they can use labor force .. they are people from the neighborhood with the same religion ..
Understand who can.
Currently, refugees from Sudan (70% Muslim) are being refused landing in Saudi Arabia!
Understand who can
Maybe think about this before pointing the finger at Thailand!