Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Time to solve Uighur saga
Oped, Editorial, Published on 24/02/2023
» The death of Aziz Abdullah, a Uighur detainee at Bangkok's Immigration Detention Centre, is the epitome of the government's mishandling of those escaping China's southwestern Xinjiang region as well as the Muslim minority group's long-forgotten plight on Thai soil.
The lack of refugee policy
News, Editorial, Published on 19/02/2019
» Thailand has been at the centre of asylum and refugee disputes since the year began. But in the past six weeks, what has emerged is not a pretty picture. A young Saudi woman won world Twitter backing and a ticket to Canada. A Bahraini refugee from Australia won freedom for a second time with inventive diplomacy. Now three of the seven Uighur migrants who escaped detention at the Mukdahan Immigration office have "won" a police manhunt and a legal limbo where extradition back to China is their No.1 likely future.
Overlooking Araibi's rights
News, Editorial, Published on 02/02/2019
» As it requested the Criminal Court to proceed with extraditing Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi to Manama yesterday, the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) sent a message to the international community that it would rather entertain Bahrain's request than follow international principles on refugee treatment.
Asylum policy adjustments welcome
News, Editorial, Published on 21/01/2019
» The new, high-profile chief of immigration is promising an optimistic and extremely welcome change of policy. While the exact plans are being thrashed out, Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn pledges to provide more humane and professional treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.
Don't drag on Araibi case
News, Editorial, Published on 15/01/2019
» The government should reconsider the continued detention of the refugee Hakeem al-Araibi, known as the refugee football player. He is being held without bail at Bangkok Remand Prison as a flight risk, while authorities from Bahrain attempt to extradite him. There is little compelling evidence to send him to a dangerous and possibly violent fate in that country. On the other hand, there are strong reasons to free him to return to Australia, where he has lived for four years in asylum while working towards citizenship.
Abetting dictators
News, Editorial, Published on 12/12/2018
» The sudden government interest in apprehending political opponents of foreign governments is disappointing. It may be coincidence but in just a week, police have forcibly detained critics of the governments of Cambodia and Bahrain. The arrests and threats of deportation or extradition to these undemocratic countries go against normal human rights practices. They also violate decades of Thai policy that often welcomed and never threatened lives of foreigners pitted against their governments.
A dubious detention
News, Editorial, Published on 05/12/2018
» The Police Immigration Bureau has placed Thailand in a dicey situation. On Nov 27, officers at Suvarnabhumi airport detained Hakeem Ali Mohamed Ali al-Araibi. He is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice -- hold for possible deportation.