Reuters reported this month that Malaysia had detained 11 ethnic Uighurs from China - among a group of 20 who escaped from Thailand in November - and that Beijing was in talks with Malaysia over their deportation. Malaysia was under "great pressure" from China to hand them over to Beijing, and not to Thailand, sources told Reuters. China has been accused of rights abuses in Xinjiang, torture of Uighur detainees and tight control on their religion and culture. Holes made in the walls of a detention facility in Songkhla’s Sadao district from which 20 illegal Uighur migrants escaped. The escapees were part of a larger group of more than 200 Uighurs detained in Thailand in 2014.

Source: Bangkok Post February 20, 2018 08:15 UTC