The asylum seekers had escaped China in recent months following the July clashes between Uighurs and ethnic Han in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, which, according to government figures, claimed more than 150 lives.
In a written statement released on Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the fact that the deportation order for the Uighurs, including a woman and two children, came before they had learned the results of asylum applications they had conveyed through the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“This unfortunate decision, which was made without taking humanitarian considerations into account, doesn’t comply with Cambodia’s obligations under international law, and it also constitutes a negative precedent in regard to the responsibilities of contemporary states vis-à-vis people who seek the right to be protected within the framework of international law,” the ministry said.
“We are now expecting Cambodian authorities to inform the international public about the fate of the returned Uighurs, and we expect that they will be treated in line with international human rights norms and fairly,” it concluded.
Last weekend, the UNHCR said the forced return of the asylum seekers on Saturday took place a day after the agency had communicated its concern to the Cambodian government regarding the imminent deportation of the 20 Uighurs, which took place before their asylum claims had been assessed. The agency noted that “a disturbing pattern of such cases is increasingly evident around the world.”
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