DIPLOMATIC BALANCE
“What’s a life, in this kind of prison cell for almost 10 years?” asked Thai senator Zakee Phithakkumpol, one of the leaders of the Islamic Central Council, which represents the kingdom’s eight million Muslims.
Support for the detainees has stepped up in recent months, with eight Thai human rights organisations urging authorities in July not to send them to China.
The renewed attention comes as Thailand prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month, with China and the US both increasingly vying for influence in Southeast Asia.
Thailand’s junta cosied up to Beijing after seizing power in 2014, but in recent years it has sought to tread a path between China and the US, the kingdom’s oldest ally.
“Lately, Bangkok has been rebalancing its relations between Washington and Beijing, rather moving closer to the US,” political professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak at Chulalongkorn University told AFP.
The massive diplomatic and security fallout from the 2015 deportation may also contribute to the government’s hesitancy, but it is keeping mum about its next moves.
Contacted by AFP, a ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson said the position of the kingdom “remained the same”, without giving further details.
Sami, who was in communication with a number of the men held, says their fears will not have changed.
Every time they spoke, he said, “I tell them with sorrow that there is no news, there is nothing about them.”
Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch, said the Uyghurs’ treatment was “absolutely shocking” and Thailand should release them immediately.
“Thai Immigration is acting like it will hold these men indefinitely, for the rest of their lives if need be, to avoid offending China,” Robertson told AFP.
“If there is a hell on earth, Thailand has created it for these Uyghur detainees.”