Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
mk-logo
News
Thailand will wait on M’sian decision on 11 Uighur detainees

Thailand will wait for Malaysia's decision regarding the fate of 11 ethnic Uighur Muslims men detained following their escape from a detention centre in Sadao in November last year.

Thai National Security Council secretary-general Wanlop Raksanor said Malaysia would deal with the Uighur escapees according to their laws, as it involved their illegal entry into the country.

"We have to wait for Malaysian authorities. We also have to look into Malaysian law regarding the matter… We have to wait for a decision from Malaysia first, then they will contact us with what to do, what to do with this issue," he told Bernama when contacted.

He was asked if Thailand would ask Malaysia to repatriate the captured Uighur men.

Wanlop (photo) who was appointed to the job in August last year, expressed his confidence that Malaysia would have a solution on the matter.

A total of 20 Uighur men broke free from an immigration detention centre in Sadao, southern Thailand last year by drilling holes in its walls.

They escaped to the nearby jungles in Thai-Malaysia border.

Eleven of them were said to have been arrested by the Malaysian authorities not long after the incident, while the rest were nabbed by Thailand.

Bangkok had said between 100 to 200 Uighur are currently detained in Thailand.

The Uighur are a Turkic ethnic group living in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed that China had officially requested Malaysia to repatriate 11 of the Uighur men it currently held.

According to Zahid, who is also the home minister, Malaysia was currently considering the request, but detailed investigations are also being carried out by the police to see if the 11 individuals are involved in any terror activities.

- Bernama

ADS