UIGHURS IN CAMBODIA TO SEEK ASYLUM
Originally published by: Phnom Penh Post / Friday, 04 December 2009 15:05
Sebastian Strangio and Sam Rith .
ETHNIC Uighurs who participated in violent demonstrations against the Chinese government earlier this year have travelled to Cambodia in a bid to seek political asylum, rights advocates said Thursday, sparking concerns that the government will ignore their requests and deport them to China.A group of Muslim Uighurs from China’s restive northwest Xinjiang province, arrived in Cambodia at various points last week, according to Dolkun Isa, secretary general of the World Uighur Congress (WUC), an international organisation of Uighur exile groups.
He said the refugees feared retaliation from Chinese authorities after taking part in violent anti-Beijing demonstrations in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, on July 5.
“These are Uighurs who faced persecution and had no choice. They have just tried to find a way to leave China,” he said by phone from Germany.
“They came to Cambodia because there is a UN [High Commissioner for Refugees] office and they want to seek asylum.”
Isa said the refugees did not possess passports, and could not divulge their exact number – nor how they managed to enter Cambodia – for fear that they could be deported. The Washington Post has reported that 22 Uighurs are in Cambodia.