ABOVE: Chinese state media broadcast images on July 11 of the Uighurs deported from Thailand, showing them being transported in black hoods and alleging some have ‘terrorist links.’ Photo: CCTV
Thai delegates who had traveled to China said yesterday that a group of Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Thailand were treated fairly.
The Thai officials said they were taken to meet with the Uighurs face-to-face at a “recuperation center” in Xinjiang province where the Uighurs said they were doing fine and really regretted leaving China in the first place, Anusit Kunakorn, who led the Thai delegation, said.
Anusit, who was also a head of the National Security Council, said the Uighur group’s leader told him that they were misled by human traffickers into traveling to other countries, Thai PBS reported.
The Thai government will soon send a report on the Uighurs’ status to address international organizations who criticized its decision to send them back to China.
The Uighurs were traveling through Southeast Asia on their way to Turkey. They claim to be a persecuted group fleeing their homeland and abuse by Han Chinese. China says they are terrorists on their way to join Islamist extremists.
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