File picture shows Chinese troops in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Cambodia said Saturday it would expel 20 Muslim Uighurs who sought refuge after unrest in China's Xinjiang region, despite protests from the United States and rights activists.
(AFP/File/Philippe Lopez)Radio Australia News
The UN says it's "deeply disturbed" that Cambodia has deported a group of 20 Muslim Uighurs to China, where human rights workers say they could face torture and possibly execution.
The group fled China's volatile north-west and travelled via Vietnam to Cambodia, where they lodged applications for refugee statutus with the UN office.
They said they had witnessed violence during the ethnic riots earlier in the year and feared for their safety.
But before the refugee assessment process could be completed, 20 of the Uighurs were taken into custody and eventually deported on an unmarked plane.
Sara Colm from Human Rights Watch, says the UN's trust in the Cambodian government to fulfil its legal obligations has been a dangerous gamble.
"What happened last night with the deportation shows a complete failure, a complete breakdown of the Cambodian government and the UNHCR to protect an extremely high risk group of asylum seekers ..in the end there was not adequate or appropriate protection provided and this came essentially at the risk of the lives of the people," Ms Colm said.
The UN says it's "deeply disturbed" that Cambodia has deported a group of 20 Muslim Uighurs to China, where human rights workers say they could face torture and possibly execution.
The group fled China's volatile north-west and travelled via Vietnam to Cambodia, where they lodged applications for refugee statutus with the UN office.
They said they had witnessed violence during the ethnic riots earlier in the year and feared for their safety.
But before the refugee assessment process could be completed, 20 of the Uighurs were taken into custody and eventually deported on an unmarked plane.
Sara Colm from Human Rights Watch, says the UN's trust in the Cambodian government to fulfil its legal obligations has been a dangerous gamble.
"What happened last night with the deportation shows a complete failure, a complete breakdown of the Cambodian government and the UNHCR to protect an extremely high risk group of asylum seekers ..in the end there was not adequate or appropriate protection provided and this came essentially at the risk of the lives of the people," Ms Colm said.
No comments:
Post a Comment