‘Disturbing’ Uyghur deportations reflect China’s growing clout
Originally Published by Democracy Digest, 22 December 2009
Uyghur asylum-seekers compulsorily repatriated from Cambodia last weekend had warned the U.N. refugee agency they feared long jail sentences or even the death penalty if deported to China, Associated Press reports.
The agency quotes a 29-year-old from Kashgar who had filmed the events of July 5 in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi:
He told of watching and filming from a roof at night as military police clashed with and shot at protesters, and Uyghurs fought back with rocks. He said he saw bloodied bodies in the streets.
“I felt like I was in a battlefield. Looking down at the streets full of Uyghur bodies, I thought that I was going to die,” he said in his statement. Four days later, he met a foreign reporter on the streets and agreed to turn over the photographs and video footage.
“If I am returned to China, I am sure that I will be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty for my involvement in the Urumqi riots,” he said in his statement.
The Uyghurs’ expulsion is a sign of Beijing’s growing economic and diplomatic clout, and its ability to resist international pressure over its human rights abuses, writes Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur American Association.
Both organizations are grantees of the National Endowment for Democracy.
But the world’s democracies must continue to press the communist regime on democracy and human rights issues, she insists:
During my time in a Chinese prison, my jailers often told me the world did not care about me or the Uyghurs’ struggle for freedom, but my treatment did improve when officials from the U.S. and other democratic countries campaigned for my release. If there is to be any hope for the safety and well-being of these Uyghur asylum seekers, it is vital that world powers continue to press China regarding their welfare.
The U.S. State Department is “deeply disturbed” by the deportations and “deeply concerned about the welfare of these individuals, who had sought protection under international law,” State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said. The administration strongly opposed the asylum seekers’ forcible repatriation.
“This incident will affect Cambodia’s relationship with the U.S. and its international standing,” Duguid said, urging Beijing “to uphold international norms and to ensure transparency, due process and proper treatment of persons in its territory.”
The European Union has expressed its deep concern over the Cambodian Government’s decision to forcibly return the Uyghur asylum seekers prior to an assessment of their status under international refugee law. The EU Presidency urges China to “ensure that the human rights of the returned persons are respected, and to guarantee transparency and due process.”
Beijing has unapologetically defended its actions, claiming that the Uyghurs were involved in unspecified criminal activities and illegally crossed China’s border, violating entry-exit regulations.