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China warns of refugee 'haven' for criminal Uighurs
Beijing (AFP) Dec 15, 2009 China warned Tuesday that UN refugee programmes "should not be a haven for criminals" and said 22 Uighurs who are seeking asylum in Cambodia were involved in crimes. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said China was investigating the Uighurs, who include three children and who arrived at the UN refugee agency office in Phnom Penh after fleeing ethnic conflict in northwest China in July. The fierce clashes in the Xinjiang region between the Muslim Uighur community and China's majority Han ethnic group left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to an official toll. Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said China's embassy in Phnom Penh had sent his government a diplomatic note last week about the 22 Uighur asylum-seekers, but said he could not divulge its contents. Asked about the note in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: "These people you just mentioned are involved in crimes and relevant Chinese authorities are verifying and investigating the situation. "I would like to stress that the international refugee protection system should not be a haven for criminals to evade legal sanctions," she added. Kitty McKinsey, Bangkok-based Asia spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said she could not comment on individual cases. But Koy Kuong said the UNHCR in Phnom Penh had confirmed that 22 Uighurs, including three children, had arrived at its office. Their presence in Phnom Penh was first made public by the Washington Post two weeks ago. "UNHCR will cooperate with Cambodian authorities to interview those 22 Uighurs to see whether they can receive the status of refugees," the Cambodian spokesman said. "So the government has not yet taken any action as we are waiting for the results of the interviews," he added. China has executed nine people and sentenced eight others to death over the July unrest, and authorities in Xinjiang said last week they had arrested a further 94 fugitives. China's roughly eight million Turkic-speaking Uighurs have long complained of religious, political and cultural oppression by Chinese authorities. China denies that Uighurs face any persecution, and says it faces a serious terrorist threat from Muslim separatists in Xinjiang. burs/rob/jit Share This Article With Planet Earth
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