Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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When Thai authorities this week linked the trafficking of Chinese Muslims with the deadly bomb blast at a Bangkok temple, they placed the horrific attack squarely inside a much larger issue facing China, which has witnessed mounting hostility among its minority Uighur people.
In a series of information updates, Thai police said the key suspect in the Aug. 16 bombing, which killed 20 and cast a pall over the country’s sunny image, was involved in the trafficking of Muslim Uighurs out of China.
Thailand in July deported 109 Uighurs back to China, amid a broader crackdown on human smuggling that followed the discovery of mass graves inside Thai borders.
The attacks may have been reprisal, Thai national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang said.
“When they were blocked from using the country as a pathway, they turned to take action against us with anger,” he said Tuesday. “I do not think it is right.”
As Thailand seeks Chinese favour and investment, police and authorities there have been slow to pin blame for the attacks on anyone related to China. But the ties to Xinjiang, the far western Chinese region where Uighur people have faced repressive religious and cultural policies, have grown increasingly clear.
Travel documents suggest the attack’s alleged mastermind, Abudureheman Abudusataer, was born in Xinjiang. This week, Thai police said Mr. Abudusataer had carried a Chinese passport and fled the day before the blast, leaving first to Bangladesh and then, two weeks later, to Turkey. (Turkey has denied providing entry to Mr. Abudusataer.)
Thailand bomb blast puts spotlight on China crackdown on Uighurs
Let's not put the blame on the extremists in any way shape or form.
In a series of information updates, Thai police said the key suspect in the Aug. 16 bombing, which killed 20 and cast a pall over the country’s sunny image, was involved in the trafficking of Muslim Uighurs out of China.
Thailand in July deported 109 Uighurs back to China, amid a broader crackdown on human smuggling that followed the discovery of mass graves inside Thai borders.
The attacks may have been reprisal, Thai national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang said.
“When they were blocked from using the country as a pathway, they turned to take action against us with anger,” he said Tuesday. “I do not think it is right.”
As Thailand seeks Chinese favour and investment, police and authorities there have been slow to pin blame for the attacks on anyone related to China. But the ties to Xinjiang, the far western Chinese region where Uighur people have faced repressive religious and cultural policies, have grown increasingly clear.
Travel documents suggest the attack’s alleged mastermind, Abudureheman Abudusataer, was born in Xinjiang. This week, Thai police said Mr. Abudusataer had carried a Chinese passport and fled the day before the blast, leaving first to Bangladesh and then, two weeks later, to Turkey. (Turkey has denied providing entry to Mr. Abudusataer.)
Thailand bomb blast puts spotlight on China crackdown on Uighurs
Let's not put the blame on the extremists in any way shape or form.
