Hard Lessons & Useful Strategies to Help Uyghur Refugees. Alim A. Seytoff, Esq. Director Uyghur Human Rights Project Washington, DC

Transcription

1 Hard Lessons & Useful Strategies to Help Uyghur Refugees Alim A. Seytoff, Esq. Director Uyghur Human Rights Project Washington, DC!"

2 Hard Lessons! Lessons are many as we have heard the history and personal stories of Uyghur refugees from the speakers after Communist Chinese control of East Turkestan in October 1949.! Lessons are hard and painful as we have not seen or found a viable solution to the Uyghur refugee crisis. There is no significant interest or strong international support in the Uyghur refugee situation.! Lessons have not made Uyghur refugee crisis easy but have made the international community more aware of Uyghur refugee situation and China s persecution of the Uyghur people.

3 Hard Lessons! While there are many important Uyghur refugee cases since the flight of Uyghur people from the Communist Chinese occupation of East Turkestan in 1949, I would like to mostly focus on 4 major cases from the past decade: 1. The case of Uyghur Canadian Huseyin Celil. 2. The case of Uyghur refugees deported from Cambodia. 3. The case of Uyghur activist Ershidin Israil. 4. The case of Uyghur refugees deported from Thailand.

4 Hard Lessons Huseyin Celil

5 Hard Lessons - Huseyin Celil! The Case of Uyghur Canadian Huseyin Celil:! Huseyin Celil is a Uyghur imam, religious activist, a refugee, and a naturalized Canadian citizen.! Huseyin Celil got the attention of the Chinese authorities in 1990s because he was a powerful preacher who peacefully challenged the repressive policies of the Chinese government imposed on the Uyghur people.! He had a large following in East Turkestan which really scared the Chinese authorities. As a result, China put him on the wanted list which prompted him to flee the country.! In March 2006, Huseyin traveled to Uzbekistan with his pregnant wife Kamila to visit her parents. Uzbek authorities kidnapped him at the request of China and secretly handed him over to Chinese authorities.! China charged him with terrorism and sentenced him to life, denying his Canadian citizenship.! Canada didn t aggressively pursue his case and secure his release. Canada s low profile handling of this case has failed to secure his release until now.! In February 2016, China announced a list of individuals whose life sentenced were commuted. While Huseyin Celil s name was on the list but it is unclear how his life sentence was reduced.

6 Hard Lessons Huseyin Celil! The Lessons in the Case of Huseyin Celil:! China s neighbors cannot be trusted or aren t safe to travel for any Uyghur political, religious or human rights activist since they re happy to deport the Uyghurs for political, economic and military aid and assistance.! A Uyghur is not safe from Chinese persecution, even if he or she has become a naturalized Western citizen or traveling with a Western passport.! China had showed a strong force of diplomacy and denied the Canadian citizenship of Huseyin Celil created a powerful political and diplomatic precedent.! Canada didn t directly challenge the precedent established by China by bringing a legal case against China at the international level or at the UN. Therefore, Canada failed to protect her citizen in Chinese custody and did little to secure his release.! Canada could do much to secure Celil s release because this is a clear sign of China violating its own citizenship law and international law, including the sovereignty of Canada. Canada could simply exchange prisoners, with wanted corrupt high level Chinese officials hiding in Canada who are wanted by the Chinese government.

7 Hard Lessons 20 Uyghurs in Cambodia

8 Hard Lessons 20 Uyghurs in Cambodia! The Case of 20 Uyghur Refugees deported from Cambodia:! After the July 5 th Urumchi Massacre of 2009, Chinese security forces initiated a fierce crackdown of the Uyghur community by arresting, imprisoning, disappearing and publicly executing Uyghur protestors.! Chinese authorities also searched Uyghur neighborhoods in capital Urumchi and rounded up thousands of Uyghur males, even though most of them had nothing to do with the July 5 protest. This is a clear case of racial and ethnic profiling.! In the aftermath of such severe persecution, some Uyghur witnesses and friends of protestors began to flee China and ended up in Southeast Asian countries.! In the fall of 2009, some 20 Uyghurs, 17 male, one female and 2 kids appeared in Cambodia seeking UN protection. UNHCR quickly granted them refugee status and worked to relocate them.! Cambodia deported these Uyghur refugees at the request of China government in spite of UN, U.S., Uyghur and human rights groups condemnation.

9 Hard Lessons 20 Uyghurs in Cambodia! The Lessons in the Case of 20 Deported Uyghurs:! Uyghur refugees are not safe, even if UNHCR grants them refugee status and works on their relocation to a third safe country in a country which has close diplomatic relations with China.! UNHCR relocation process is a long process and it is in no position to assist a group in need of urgent relocation to a third safe country, especially from China s neighbor.! The congregation of Uyghur refugees in one country as a big group is a big mistake. The bigger the group the bigger the pressure from China on the host country and the bigger their risk of deportation to China.! The constant media exposure of this group through frequent interviews of their backgrounds and witness accounts of what had happened on July 5 th is another huge mistake.! These refugees should lay low with a low profile and without making too much noise in the media and getting too much attention in Beijing.! While high level UN and U.S. intervention came in the last minute to save these refugees, but countries, even small and weak countries like Cambodia, will do what is best for their own countries even in violations of international law and obligations and in spite of UN and U.S. condemnations.

10 Hard Lessons Ershidin Israil

11 Hard Lessons Ershidin Israil! The Case of Uyghur Activist Ershidin Israil:! Ershidin Israil is a Uyghur human rights activist who fled China to Kazakhstan after exposing Chinese police torturing and killing Uyghur political prisoners in Ghulja City.! He was wanted for exposing Chinese police brutality and a warrant was issued. Fearing his immediate arrest, he walked on foot for a few days, crossed the China-Kazakh border and hid in secret in Almaty, Kazakhstan.! He didn t want to seek asylum in Kazakhstan due to the fact that Kazakhstan had deported Uyghur activists back to China in the past.! He revealed his hidden place only after both UNHCR and U.S. guaranteed his safety in Kazakhstan with a promise that he would not be deported.! Initially, UNHCR granted him refugee status and waited for his relocation. Not too long after that, UNHCR revoked this refugee status based upon the false information provided by China and turned the green light for Kazakhstan to deport him to China.! He was deported to China without the knowledge of his attorney. His whereabouts have been unknown since his deportation to China to this day.

12 Hard Lessons Ershidin Israil! The Lessons in the Case of Ershidin Israil:! Kazakhstan can never be trusted under any kind of circumstances. Kazakhstan is always happy to deport a Uyghur activist to gain Chinese favors. Kazakhstan has never hesitated in deporting Uyghur activists since its independence in 1991.! UNHCR cannot always be trusted because its decisions were arbitrary and most likely politicallymotivated in this case. UNHCR has not disclosed how it had come to the decision to revoke Ershidin Israil s refugee status. When pressed by WUC representatives, the official who made the decision in Geneva simply said, We can t disclose it to you. You re not his relatives.! UN system is a broken system. Uyghur refugees cannot expect complete protection. It has been helpful for Uyghurs in low profile and individual cases in the past but not in high profile and large group cases.! While the U.S. will do its best to assist Uyghur refugees and secure their transfer to safe third countries, but China s neighbors and even UNHCR can turn against the U.S. for their own interests and politics. All U.S. can do under such cases is to express deep concern over deported Uyghur refugees and condemn the countries for deporting them.! And yet these countries understand that business with the U.S. will soon be as usual because of mutual political need and future diplomatic cooperation, and the deported Uyghur refugee issue will only become a footnote in their bilateral relations.

13 Hard Lessons Mass Deportation by Thailand

14 Hard Lessons Mass Deportation by Thailand! The case of mass Uyghur deportation by Thailand:! Thousands of Uyghurs, men, women and children, began to flee East Turkestan into SEA countries due to severe political repression and cycle of violence in the aftermath of July 5 Urumchi Massacre.! These Uyghur refugees, mostly consisted of Uyghur farmers and their families, sold everything they had owned and paid Chinese snakeheads to traffic them into SEA, hoping to eventually reach Turkey.! Many of them came to Thailand illegally, hoping to get a fake Turkish passport and travel to Turkey. However, in 2014, Thai police discovered their presence and detained them in immigration detention centers.! A year later, in July 2015, Thailand deported 109 Uyghur refugees to China, facing strong international condemnation from UN and U.S.! This is the first time Uyghur refugees faced such a large scale deportation by any country neighboring China.! Thai Prime Minister defended his decision to deport the Uyghur refugees while Cambodia praised this deportation.

15 Hard Lessons Mass Deportation by Thailand! The lessons of Mass Deportation by Thailand:! The group of Uyghur refugees is too large to escape to Turkey.! As a result, they were discovered and detained in hundreds in Thailand.! Due to their size, Beijing got notice and requested Thai deportation.! Thailand, knowing it will face severe international criticism and condemnation, deported them to China for its own political interest.! While Thailand is a transit route, but it is a traditional ally of China.! Thailand is not sympathetic to all refugees, including Rohingga Muslims.! Thailand also has separatist issue from the Pattani Muslims in the South. Thai government is not sympathetic to groups labeled as separatists or Muslims.! Uyghur refugees are both Muslim and accused separatists by China.! Thailand knows it only pays small price for deporting Uyghur refugees to China.

16 Harsh Reality I. Harsh Reality 1: The Uyghur people don t have their own country. Therefore, there is not a Uyghur state to protect Uyghur refugees. Western countries and international agencies can only do so much to protect Uyghur refugees. Sometimes Uyghur refugees are safe and sometimes they are deported back to China. II. Harsh Reality 2: Uyghur people do not enjoy the protection of a particular kin state, such as Turkey or Central Asian Turkic states. In fact, all Central Asian Turkic countries, except Turkey, has deported Uyghur refugees back to China. White Turkey has so far not deported any Uyghur back to China, but Turkey s close diplomatic and military relationship with China should be a cause of concern. III. Harsh Reality 3: Even though the level of political persecution Uyghur people face and the level of militarization in East Turkestan is not very different than some of the semi-war zones, Uyghur refugees, unlike Tibetans, fleeing Chinese persecution are not automatically granted UNHCR refugee status or recognized as refugees/asylees by foreign states. IV. Harsh Reality 4: There is no UN resolution or Western legislation that recognizes the fleeing Uyghur people as refugees. Therefore, there is no any international or state mandate to directly assist Uyghur refugees or funds appropriated for their resettlement in third safe countries.

17 Harsh Reality I. Harsh Reality 5: Uyghur refugees are extremely vulnerable to the exploitation of all different actors Chinese snakeheads, Chinese border police, SEA border police, SEA human traffickers, and even extremist groups. Every step of their way, they face bribery, robbery, detention, deportation, and even death. II. III. IV. Harsh Reality 6: China turns a blind eye to the flight of Uyghur refugees all the way from East Turkestan to SEA countries and then accuses them as extremists on their way to join ISIS and fight jihad. In this way, China can easily discredit the Uyghurs refugee claims and blames the instability in East Turkestan to outside forces and extremism instead of its heavy-handed repression, thus legitimizing its hard crackdown on Uyghur people in East Turkestan. Harsh Reality 7: At present, there is less international sympathy for refugees due to concerns of terrorism as the Syrian war and the rise of ISIS have caused millions to flee into Turkey and Europe. Turkey, Europe and UNHCR are overwhelmed by the influx of refugees from Middle East. The refugee crisis in the Middle East has compounded the refugee crisis of the Uyghur people. Harsh Reality 8: Also, the harsh rhetoric of Presidential Candidate Donald Trump on immigrants, refugees and Muslims have made the situation not only worse in the U.S. but around the world.

18 Strategies to Help Uyghur Refugees

19 Strategies to Help Uyghur Refugees! What are the useful strategies to help Uyghur refugees?! 1. It is important to inform and educate the Uyghur people not to flee East Turkestan as much as they realistically can unless their life is under threat.! 2. It is important to inform and educate them not to flee with wives and children.! 3. It is important to inform and educate them not to flee in a large group.! 4. It is important to inform and educate them to lay low in a country neighboring China and wait for resettlement in a safe third country.! 5. It is important to inform and educate them not to speak to media, including RFA Uyghur Service, before they are relocated to a safe third country.

20 Strategies to Help Uyghur Refugees! 6. It is important to inform and educate them to try to avoid to get any attention from the Chinese and even local national authorities.! 7. It is important to inform and educate them not to get recruited and become a victim of extremist groups.! 8. It is important to inform and educate them to approach UNHCR and Western aid organization with a grain of salt. While they are helpful, they are not always the savior of Uyghur refugees.! 9. It is important to inform and educate them to contact WUC or Uyghur organizations under the umbrella of WUC to get help.! 10. While their life is at stake and WUC assisting the cases, it is important to educate them being recognized as a refugee and relocated to a third safe country is a long and grilling process, which may take months and even years.

21 Strategies to Help Uyghur Refugees! What are the useful strategies for WUC to help Uyghur refugees?! 1. Work closely with Western nations, such as U.S., Canada, Australia and in the Europe Union, as well as international organizations, such as UNHCR, Red Cross and Red Crescent.! 2. Work closely with international human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UNPO, Society for Threatened Peoples and CECC.! 3. Work closely with international, Uyghur and Chinese media to raise the profile of Uyghur refugee cases and pressure the host country not to deport Uyghur refugees once China wants them extradited.! 4. Name and shame the host country for violating international law by deporting Uyghur refugees to China and make sure that country will not deport Uyghur refugees again in the future.! 5. Urge UN, U.S., EU and other Western nations that have human rights dialogues with China and host countries to raise the case of Uyghur refugees and pressure China to treat the deported Uyghur refugees well and host countries never again deport them to China.