Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Uighurs' plight a lesson for govt
News, Editorial, Published on 09/04/2023
» The case of 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church who were arrested for overstaying visas in Pattaya last week brings back memories of the notorious repatriation of another group of Uighur refugees back to China in 2014.
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.
Don't kowtow over Uighurs
News, Editorial, Published on 16/01/2020
» The recent failed escape of a group of Uighurs from a detention cell in the northeastern province of Mukdahan highlights the Catch-22 situation the country has been caught in for many years with this minority Muslim group from China. It's high time to find an acceptation solution.
Don't back Uighur abuse
News, Editorial, Published on 23/11/2019
» Secret Chinese government documents leaked to The New York Times have provided chilling details about its "no mercy" approach to repression of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The revelation should serve as a reminder to Thai admirers of Chinese President Xi Jinping of the brutal and paranoid reality of his regime.
No country for dissidents
News, Editorial, Published on 14/09/2019
» Despite some restrictions on freedom of expression, Thailand was once a place where government dissent was tolerated. It was seen as a safe haven for dissidents in the region, many of whom arrived seeking asylum in a third country under UN Human Rights Commission rules. Od Sayavong, a 34-year-old Lao political activist, was one of them. But that hope was extinguished when he went missing in Bangkok on Aug 26.
Collar bombers not scapegoats
News, Editorial, Published on 04/08/2019
» The series of bombings in Bangkok and Nonthaburi, which injured four people last week, is a challenge to the new Prayut Chan-o-cha administration and those in charge of security affairs.
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.
Defence is no joking matter
News, Editorial, Published on 23/01/2019
» Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has been rightly pilloried in both local and foreign media lately. He has shown himself to be lacking in a too-long series of events. These have run from his luxury watches to last weekend's tasteless feast of mangoes and sticky rice. Still, there was something especially disconcerting and disappointing in his offensive and supremely unfunny "joke" about last week's terrorist attack on the Thai-managed DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi.
Malaysia right over Uighurs
News, Editorial, Published on 15/10/2018
» Malaysia has made a bold move in the continuing conundrum over the fate of refugees and illegal migrants. Last week, the Kuala Lumpur government spurned both the soft requests of Thailand and the harsh demands of China and sent 11 Chinese Uighur refugees to Turkey. The decision to free the 11 was unexpected. The new Malaysian government under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was caught between a diplomatic rock and humanitarian hard place and took the more popular way out.
Religious abuse perils
News, Editorial, Published on 15/08/2018
» Friday is the third anniversary of the worst single terrorist attack in modern Thailand. The poorly investigated, badly prosecuted bombing of the Erawan shrine killed 20 people and injured more than 100. The hurried police work concluded it was the act of foreigners angry at the government's success against human trafficking. The "foreigners" turned out to be Chinese Uighurs, two of whom were arrested and are still undergoing trial. The only known Thai suspect is on bail and her trial is officially pending, unofficially unlikely.