China, Turkey Tussling for 400 People PHUKET: A tug-of-war is taking place between Turkey and China with the winner claiming 400 mysterious travellers, most of whom are children, now being held captive in Thailand.



According to human rights groups, the lives of all 400 will be at stake if China wins the tug-of-war. For now, Thailand is holding the would-be refugees that both Turkey and China appear to want.



The mystery travellers, who arrived in Thailand in three groups last month with the assistance of human traffickers, claim to possess Turkish extraction. Turkey and Australia have been named as their preferred destinations.



But these people - mostly young families - are suspected of belonging to China's persecuted Uighur minority. If they are returned to China, their fate is bleak, say the human rights groups.



Today there were dramatic developments following a report published in the Financial Times from Beijing that China wants the men, women and children returned there as fast as possible.



A group of Chinese envoys is now in southern Thailand, interviewing the detainees and forming a view on their background, Phuketwan was told today by usually reliable sources.



Turkish envoys in Bangkok went to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand today, Phuketwan has learned, where they met with commissioners and representatives from Thailand's Immigration department, which is detaining the mystery travellers.



Details of their names and fingerprints have already been collected and sent to Ankara. It is not known whether Beijing has also been involved in that process, but it appears unlikely.



Turkey showed the most immediate interest in the group, dispatching five envoys last month to southern Thailand when the first 220 mysterious arrivals were found in the jungle.



Two more large groups have since been detected and apprehended.



While the first group of men, women and children remained silent for almost two days except for a spokesperson, many broke into emotional tears at the Immigration office in the southern city of Had Yai when the Turkish envoys arrived.



One diplomat told us that it could be confirmed at least 36 of the group were Turkish. Determining the background of the others was ''a humanitarian issue.''



Although official confirmation was not possible, Phuketwan is confident that Chinese envoys in Thailand are now concerned to quickly determine the background of the men, women and children, and according to our sources have recently sent a team to southern Thailand to interview them.



China is an Asian power with ties to Thailand that are sizeable and historic and much greater than any ties Thailand has to Turkey.



A formal request from China claiming the mystery travellers as originating from the Uighurs' home region of Xinjiang province would be difficult for Thailand to reject.



Today, Phuketwan learned, at least one person at the emergency meeting with the Turkish envoys said that Thailand would not have the ability to make a government decision about the future of the 400 until the results of a new national election are known, and that could be months away.



Allegations that the group of new arrivals might be ''terrorists'' have already been challenged by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based NGO.



Phil Robertson, HRW's Deputy Director, Asia Division, said in March in response to an article in the Bangkok Post: '''The groups in question are composed of significant numbers of small children, and more than a few pregnant women so one wonders how unnamed police sources have suddenly somehow jumped to a conclusion that these people are 'terrorists.'''



No details of background information that could have been revealed in interviews with the mystery travellers have been made public so far.



''I suspect that such 'terrorist' accusations are a prelude to some Thai government officials trying to force these groups back to China in what would be a clear violation of international law,'' Mr Robertson said.



''It is time for the UNHCR and the international community to clearly tell Bangkok that such an outcome would be totally unacceptable.'' Comments Comments have been disabled for this article.

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