By ISOLDA MORILLO and CARA ANNA
AP
BEIJING — A group of 22 Uighurs who fled after ethnic rioting in western China are seeking asylum in Cambodia after using an underground network of missionaries in China that has helped North Korean refugees in the past.
It is the first time the Christian interfaith network has helped a group of the largely Muslim Uighurs, and it might not be the last. People who work with the network say overseas-based Uighur groups have been asking if they could use the underground "railway" through China to reach the U.N. refugee office in Cambodia.
Tension in China's remote northwest has increased since the July rioting between the Turkic Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese. It was China's worst ethnic violence in decades.
The Chinese government says the rioting left nearly 200 people dead. A Chinese court sentenced five Uighurs to death Thursday for murder and other crimes during the rioting, and China announced last month that nine Uighurs had been executed for taking part in the violence.
Overseas Uighur groups reject China's accusations that they helped cause the violence in the long-tense region and say Uighurs have been rounded up in mass detentions since the riots.
The 22 Uighurs, who have been described by Uighur exile groups as witnesses to the rioting, made their way through China and Vietnam before arriving in the Cambodian capital, where they have made contact with the UN refugee office and applied for political asylum.
However, they live in fear of being picked up and returned to China, which has close ties with Cambodia, according to Uighur groups.
"China has a very big influence in Cambodia. So their life is in risk, I would say," said Ilshat Hassan, the U.S.-based director of interior affairs for the World Uyghur Congress.
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry asked that questions about the case be sent in a fax, and offered no immediate response.
Hassan said the group is the first large one to leave China after the riots. He said they witnessed the violence in the Xinjiang region and took photos. Two other Uighurs were arrested in Vietnam, he said, and he lost contact with another group of four.
A spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of the Interior, Pol. Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, said Friday that at least 16 Uighurs are now staying at the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the capital, Phnom Penh.
He said the Cambodian government can do nothing with the Uighurs as they are under the UNHCR's protection. He said he doesn't know when and how they arrived in Cambodia, or whether the government will deport them to China.
"It is too early to talk about this," the general said.
UNHCR's spokeswoman for Asia, Kitty McKinsey, said she could not discuss the case. "It's our policy everywhere in the world never to speak about individual asylum seekers or refugees," she said. The Phnom Penh office is the closest UNHCR office to China in Southeast Asia.
Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the government will consider carefully any repatriation request from China. He said Cambodia has the right to deny such a request if the people are considered political asylum seekers.
"But if they are purely criminal people and there is a request, we may deport them back," he said.
Missionary groups have been getting more and more requests from overseas Uighur groups hoping to use the North Korean "railway," the Rev. Marcus Ramsey with the Macau Interfaith Network told AP Television News.
The "railway" is a network of sympathetic locals who agree to shelter and guide people as they cross China.
Ramsey's group collaborates with other missionary groups and helped the 22 Uighurs leave China.
The requests come because some Uighurs fear the Chinese government is targeting them after the July rioting, he added.
Hassan did not want to talk about any involvement with the missionary network, saying only "some locals from the China side helped."
Now, however, China has tightened border controls and the way into Vietnam is no longer possible, he said.
Associated Press Writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.
It is the first time the Christian interfaith network has helped a group of the largely Muslim Uighurs, and it might not be the last. People who work with the network say overseas-based Uighur groups have been asking if they could use the underground "railway" through China to reach the U.N. refugee office in Cambodia.
Tension in China's remote northwest has increased since the July rioting between the Turkic Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese. It was China's worst ethnic violence in decades.
The Chinese government says the rioting left nearly 200 people dead. A Chinese court sentenced five Uighurs to death Thursday for murder and other crimes during the rioting, and China announced last month that nine Uighurs had been executed for taking part in the violence.
Overseas Uighur groups reject China's accusations that they helped cause the violence in the long-tense region and say Uighurs have been rounded up in mass detentions since the riots.
The 22 Uighurs, who have been described by Uighur exile groups as witnesses to the rioting, made their way through China and Vietnam before arriving in the Cambodian capital, where they have made contact with the UN refugee office and applied for political asylum.
However, they live in fear of being picked up and returned to China, which has close ties with Cambodia, according to Uighur groups.
"China has a very big influence in Cambodia. So their life is in risk, I would say," said Ilshat Hassan, the U.S.-based director of interior affairs for the World Uyghur Congress.
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry asked that questions about the case be sent in a fax, and offered no immediate response.
Hassan said the group is the first large one to leave China after the riots. He said they witnessed the violence in the Xinjiang region and took photos. Two other Uighurs were arrested in Vietnam, he said, and he lost contact with another group of four.
A spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of the Interior, Pol. Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, said Friday that at least 16 Uighurs are now staying at the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the capital, Phnom Penh.
He said the Cambodian government can do nothing with the Uighurs as they are under the UNHCR's protection. He said he doesn't know when and how they arrived in Cambodia, or whether the government will deport them to China.
"It is too early to talk about this," the general said.
UNHCR's spokeswoman for Asia, Kitty McKinsey, said she could not discuss the case. "It's our policy everywhere in the world never to speak about individual asylum seekers or refugees," she said. The Phnom Penh office is the closest UNHCR office to China in Southeast Asia.
Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the government will consider carefully any repatriation request from China. He said Cambodia has the right to deny such a request if the people are considered political asylum seekers.
"But if they are purely criminal people and there is a request, we may deport them back," he said.
Missionary groups have been getting more and more requests from overseas Uighur groups hoping to use the North Korean "railway," the Rev. Marcus Ramsey with the Macau Interfaith Network told AP Television News.
The "railway" is a network of sympathetic locals who agree to shelter and guide people as they cross China.
Ramsey's group collaborates with other missionary groups and helped the 22 Uighurs leave China.
The requests come because some Uighurs fear the Chinese government is targeting them after the July rioting, he added.
Hassan did not want to talk about any involvement with the missionary network, saying only "some locals from the China side helped."
Now, however, China has tightened border controls and the way into Vietnam is no longer possible, he said.
Associated Press Writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.
5 comments:
Ah Hun Sen will hand these people back to the commi to maintain current diplomaic ties.
Exactly what Viet want Khmer collision with Thai push these two to go to war what left of khmer and thai will become part of Viet theif.
Hun Sen has cause so much trouble in the region, he think that by act tough against Thai that show khmer support him, but he is playing stupid games, he know that Cambodia can not match Thai arm force and modern weapon, but he push it for war thinking that he tough, but he will get all khmer kill and left the country to be encroached by Viet.
He has already give a big chunk of Khmer territory to the Viet already, how much more can we allow this insane person to continue on with his subservant to Viet thief.
All Khmer must stop this mad man.
Hun Sen has used propaganda when he said that he and his master help liberate khmer from khmer rough but what is he diong now? interfering whith the eccc court by protecting the khmer rough from bringing them to prosecuted.
Is he liberate khmer from khmer rough and why is he unwilling to bring rest of the khmer leader to trial? Can we believe his words.?
China is a criminal society whose government executes the minority, Uigher people, as the Vietnamese government executes Khmer Krom everyday. Khmer Krom live in fear because the invader and occupier of the Vietnamese. Now the Vietnamese government and their people try to take our land more and more.
This result is because of Hun Sen and Sihanouk allowed Vietnam to swallow our land. Both of them should be executed for treason. If Sihanouk didn't help the North Vietnam to make war with American, he can turn to American to help getting Khmer Krom land back. But, the stupid king never cares about his people and the country.
cambodia deserves a lot of credit, see! we could help to make a difference i the world, really! just because we are a late comer, doesn't we can't change for the better, etc., really! wake up, please!
9:24 PM,
Every time I read a dumbest stupidest like you brag about how much you fucking braggart knew about the South East Asia conflicts, I just want to shit on your plate if I see it.
The braggarts like you are good in bragging from your fucking keyboard. The Yuon were in Cambodia since God knows when? 500 years, and you my fucking dumbest may never know who are your enemies among your friends and relatives. Because everyone can speak Khmers.
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