By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A recently issued statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry suggests that it is already in the process, or will soon begin, an effort to return 22 Uighurs, after fleeing to Cambodia when deadly ethnic riots broke out in July in western China. Those in flight are said to have left due to extreme subsequent government crackdown on rioters.

Uighurs, are a Turkic-speaking ethnic minority and are namely concentrated in western China. Those who deem themselves Uighurs often say the Chinese government, dominated by ethnic Han, discriminates against them. The Uighurs in Cambodia fled their homeland after the deadliest ethnic rioting in decades in China. Uighurs clashed on July 5 with riot police officers sent to put down a protest in Urumqi, the capital of the western region of Xinjiang, and then went on a rampage through neighborhoods, killing scores of people.

The 22 Uighurs who fled after the incident in July entered Cambodia about a month ago. Three of the Uighurs who made it to Cambodia are children. Two Uighurs were detained in Vietnam en route to Cambodia, and five others who fled China have disappeared, according to Uighur advocacy groups in the West. It is believed they were able to escape with the aid of an underground network of Christian missionaries in China that usually helps North Koreans who seek to get out of the country and into nations they can seek refugee status. It has been confirmed that the 22 Uighurs are still in Cambodia, because they appeared at the United Nations’ Refugee Office to apply for refugee status.

This week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said at a news conference that the Uighurs were suspected of criminal activities and that the “relevant departments” were investigating them. She said at the news conference and in a written statement that criminals “should not be allowed to take advantage of the United Nations’ refugee system.” She went on to say that, “China’s stance is very clear: the international refugee protection system shouldn’t become a shelter where criminals stay to escape legal punishment.”

Human Rights organizations have been very active in the matter. Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty International, wrote in a  letter, “Since September 2001, Amnesty International has documented cases in which Uighur asylum seekers who were forcibly returned to China were detained, reportedly tortured and in some cases sentenced to death and executed.” 

For more information, please see:

New York Times – China Is Disputing Status of Uighurs in Cambodia – December 18, 2009

Yahoo! World News – Cambodia to send 20 Uighurs back to China: US rights group – December 18,2009

Inside Asia – China Is Disputing Uighurs in Cambodia