Original report from Washington
04 February 2010
The fates of 20 Muslim Uighurs forcibly returned to China from Cambodia in December remains unknown, but a government official said the case is now up to the Chinese.
“Cambodia does not take any responsibility while these Chinese Uighurs are in China, under Chinese sovereignty,” said Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Cambodia only implemented its own laws on illegal immigrants.”
Twenty-two Uighur asylum seekers traveled to Cambodia late last year, reportedly fleeing unrest in their home province of Xinjiang in July. After filing asylum bids with UNHCR, two fled, and 20, including two children, were forced back to China on Dec. 19, 2009.
Opponents of the deportation said it was made against international law and under pressure from the Chinese government, which handed Cambodia a $1 billion aid package a day after the Uighurs were flown back to China.
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