PM Paetongtarn insists China offered safety guarantee, says no third countries wanted detainees
In one of several pictures released by the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, a Uyghur man is shown being reunited with his family shortly after his arrival in Xinjiang on Thursday.
The Thai government has been attacked by critics over a claim that 40 Uyghur detainees had asked to go back to China after being detained in the country for more than a decade.
Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang on Friday released two letters written by the detainees, calling for help from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the international community to ensure they are not handed over to China due to concern about safety.
Another letter was written to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra seeking her help to send them to reunite with their families in Turkey.
The Fair Party lawmaker, who once worked for the UN refugee agency, said the three letters with different dates were written while the Uyghur men were detained at the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in Bangkok.
The letters were posted on his social media accounts to counter a statement made by Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who stressed on Thursday that the Uyghurs were returning voluntarily to meet their families in China, instead of “getting jailed in Thailand hopelessly”.
Mr Kannavee argued that the men’s desire to go to third countries was clearly reflected in their letters.
The 40 Uyghurs, as well as eight Chinese people wanted for various offences, were sent back to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China on Thursday morning from Bangkok. The Tha
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