RESCUE ATTEMPT FOILED
Efforts to bring two Chinese political refugees to Toronto are stymied when Thailand officials suddenly deport them to China,
Canadian officials were in the midst of bringing two Chinese dissidents to a safe haven in Canada when Thailand forcibly deported them to China in the middle of the night.
Meanwhile, their wives are safely here in the GTA, fearing the worst for their husbands, Jiang Ye-fei, a political cartoonist, and Dong Guangping, a rights activist.
“No one knows where they are right now. They were forced to confess to crimes they didn’t commit. They were arrested because they spoke against government corruption,” said Jiang’s wife, Chu Ling, from an undisclosed residence arranged by Canadian human rights advocates.
“I’m worried for my husband’s safety,” added Chu, choking back tears. “This is outrageous and scary. How could Thai officials deport people with UN refugee status to a place they fled?”
Within days of being scooped up by Thai officials from their home in Bangkok in late October, Jiang and Dong and their families were granted protected persons status by the United Nations.
On Nov. 11, Canadian diplomats, alerted by human rights advocates in Toronto, visited the two men in jail and arranged to have them resettled in Canada as government-sponsored refugees.
However, despite their UN refugee designation, Jiang, 47, and Dong, 56, were whisked out of jail overnight and “repatriated” to China, where they face false “human trafficking” charges, their families say.
The next time they were seen was on a news broadcast on CCTV, China’s official government media, showing the two men’s confession, said their families, whom the Canadian government flew from Thailand to Toronto on Nov. 18.
Critics say Canada’s role in offering sanctuary to the men’s families will test the diplomatic relationship between China and the new Liberal government.
“China is a world economic power, but that comes at the expense of human rights,” said Sheng Xue, president of the pro-democracy group Federation for a Democratic China, which approached the Canadian government for help. The “CanadaChina relationship may suffer, but our new government needs to promote human rights and stand by our Canadian values.”
A Global Affairs Canada spokesman, François Lasalle, said Ottawa has expressed serious concerns with both Thailand and China, including its deep disappointment that the men were sent back to China despite being in possession of UN protection documents.
“We continue to work with all international partners to ensure that international human rights obligations and commitments are respected and that all deportations are guided by humanitarian principles with full respect for the safety and dignity of all deportees,” Lasalle said.
The United Nations High Commis- sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) did not name Dong and Jiang, but said it was “deeply concerned” over Thai officials’ disregard of the rights of the two recognized refugees.
Amnesty International also condemned what it described as “shameful collusion” between China and Thailand in targeting freedom of expression.
“The Thai authorities are callously disregarding their international obligations under human rights law and international refugee protection, by lending support to the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on peaceful critics at home and abroad,” said Amnesty, which plans to hold a news conference in Toronto on Thursday.
It estimated that Thailand has forcibly returned about 100 individuals, most of them ethnic Uighur minorities, to China at the regime’s request.
The Thai Embassy in Ottawa said Dong and Jiang had entered Thailand illegally and were subject to the country’s immigration laws.
“It was done with careful consideration, taking into account all relevant legislation, regulations and procedures in accordance with the law,” the embassy told the Star. “Thailand will continue to work closely with our international partners, including the UNHCR, towards a more systemic screening mechanism to help make any such decisions in the future more efficient with a clear guideline for relevant agencies.”
The Chinese Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.