The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the State Department to condemn the government of Thailand for deporting Uyghurs to China. CAIR also urged the State Department to exert increased pressure on China to stop its genocide of Uyghurs.
This morning, a group of trucks with windows covered left the Suan Phlu prison. Shortly thereafter, a plane left Bangkok and landed at Kashgar in China’s Uyghur region. Chinese news reported that 40 “Chinese nationals involved in illegal immigration” had been deported from Thailand. Uyghur refugees in Thailand had previously sought assistance from the UN Refugee Agency but had been denied help.
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“The Thai government has handed these Uyghur refugees to the oppressors, torturers and murderers of their people. This unconscionable act of cruelty must be condemned by the State Department. We call on the Trump administration to increase its pressure on the Chinese government to end its genocide of the Uyghurs.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com