Two Uyghur men, aged 26 and 35, held in Thailand for more than a decade, wrote letters made public last week asking not to be sent to China. “Every time we are worrying from China to take back us,” one of them wrote in a letter shared by Kannavee Suebsang, a former lawmaker and founder of the Peace Rights Foundation, a human rights group that represents the men. “We aren't terrorist,” the Uyghur man wrote. On Wednesday, at the Office of the National Human Rights Commission, the two men presented their plea not to be sent back to China, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Thailand's National Security Council head Chaipruak Doungprapat said his agency will not make a decision on their deportation, unlike the case of 40 Uyghur men who were sent back to China last year, and that the process will go through the courts, where the men will be able to defend themselves.
Theme: Thailand
Articles and notes about Thailand.
Thailand’s National Security Council chief Chaipruak Doungprapat said that China needs to present a formal extradition request and that the decision on the two Uyghurs will go through the courts, with the two men able to defend themselves. The council will not decide on their deportation on its own, unlike the case of the 40 Uyghur men sent back to China last year. The two were released from prison in late October and are being held at the Suan Plu immigration detention center in Bangkok. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning defended bilateral cooperation against cross-border crimes, including illegal immigration, on Wednesday, and did not comment on whether Beijing had already presented an extradition request.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Phuket to demand that Thai authorities end the activities of the Chabad movement in the country and take action against alleged illegal economic activities by foreigners, including Israeli-linked organizations, according to the Times of Israel. The protest came several days after Thailand revoked the citizenship of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the head of the Chabad movement in the country, for using his American passport to travel abroad.
Thailand's prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, has reportedly revoked the citizenship of the country's chief rabbi, Yosef Chaim Kantor, because he kept using his US passport to enter and exit countries, in violation of Thai law. Kantor, who was born in the United States and has lived in Thailand since 1993, was granted Thai citizenship in 2013 through the country's naturalization process, according to The Times of Israel.
Protesters in Bangkok called on institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to focus on climate financing and tax reforms that help poorer citizens instead of demanding austerity, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The protest issued six demands to the IMF and the World Bank, including debt cancellation and greater public oversight, according to Khaosod English.