Mukdahan immigration chief shunted over fleeing Uighurs

Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn temporarily transferred his classmate, Pol Col Komen Suphab, out of the immigration office in Mukdahan. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

The immigration chief of Mukdahan has been transferred after his juniors let seven detained Muslim Uigurs flee the detention centre.

Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn on Wednesday inked an order to move his classmate, Pol Col Komen Suphab, in charge of the provincial immigration office, to an inactive post at the head office in Bangkok.

A number of his deputies were also temporarily transferred from their positions in Mukdahan to work in Bangkok. The names were not disclosed.

Pol Col Komen Suphab. (Photo from www.mukdahanimmigration.org)

The transfer order was issued after seven Uigurs escaped the immigration office jail in the northeastern province on Tuesday night. A duty officer forgot to lock the cell, giving an opportunity for them to flee.

Six Uigurs were sent from the head office in Bangkok and one from the immigration office in Ubon Ratchathani to detention facilities at the Mukdahan office in 2016 to ease congestion in the cells. They were charged for possessing fake documents used to go to a third country.

Police later arrested Rajep Butzer, 27, in the province, while the rest are still on the run.

"Although Mudkahan immigration chief Pol Col Komen Suphab is my friend from the Police Cadet Academy, there will be no exception," Pol Lt Gen Surachate said.

A committee will be set up to investigate the jailbreak and to find out whether officials were involved in helping them escape, he added.