Activist rejects idea of Uighur link with blast

Activist rejects idea of Uighur link with blast

No reason to sabotage Thailand, man insists

A Uighur activist has downplayed the possibility of his compatriots’ involvement in Monday's horrendous bomb attack in Bangkok, saying Thailand is a hospitable nation for most asylum seekers including Uighurs.

Boonsong Satman, the father of Suwan Satman, who was among those killed in the Erawan shrine bombing, collects 90,000 baht from a donation provided by Their Majesties the King and Queen at the Grand Palace. The royal donation goes to the families of all Thais killed in the tragedy. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)

"It is nonsense and impossible that Uighur people would do this. There might be groups who want to attack China, but we rarely hear of them being active outside China.

"More importantly, there are no armed groups fighting to stop the persecution of Uighurs," said the 54-year-old Uighur activist who has been living in an East Asian country for 14 years.

The man said Uighur people have fled political and economic discrimination in Xinjiang in China through Thailand instead of seeking help from neighbouring Muslim countries because they were friendlier to Beijing than the Uighurs and handed them over to the Chinese government.

“Why would the Uighurs sabotage the host country that helps them?” said the activist who asked not to be named as he has been visiting Thailand regularly since hundreds of Uighur people were arrested in Thailand's border towns over a year ago.

Asked if the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (Etim) was involved in the deadly blast at the Erawan shrine at Ratchaprasong intersection, he said Etim's activities are unknown, and even the US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) still has to ask for information about the group from China. It was therefore likely that the group was created as a false target to justify Beijing's crackdown on dissidents in China.

“In Chinese online discussions, fingers have been pointed at Uighur involvement in the Bangkok blast as if to justify the Beijing-dictated theory that Uighurs are terrorists.

"We’re actually a weak people. We won't fight unless we've been seriously violated,” said the activist, pointing to harsh human rights violations in Xinjiang since 2009, such as enforced disappearances.

Since then thousands of people have tried to flee their land and resettle in many places including Turkey, South Korea, Japan, and Finland.

Although saddened and disturbed that Uighurs have been linked with the Erawan shrine blast, he said it might be a good opportunity for the media to focus on the persecution of people in western China’s Xinjiang autonomous region.

“Our land is rich in coal, oil and gas that helps feed the rest of China but the Uighur people are still poor. Even those who manage to graduate from university struggle to find a job as Beijing has recruited Han Chinese from outside to take control of the economy and administrative matters in the region,” the source said.

He hoped that Thailand and the Thai people would not be tricked by the ploy to delegitimise the Uighurs' struggle.

"We understand and feel sympathetic to Thailand, which is stuck in the middle of this dilemma. That's why Uighurs were sent back to China. But the fact is that no one can identify the whereabouts or fate of those people sent back from Thailand," he said.

He urged Beijing to be transparent in the matter by coming out and telling the international community what happened to those Uighurs.

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