Abdulaziz Abdulla, a Uyghur refugee from Guma who was detained in an immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, died of illness on February 12.
Abdulaziz Abdulla, a Uyghur refugee from Guma who fled China with his family in January 2014 and was apprehended in Thailand and has since been detained in an immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, died of illness on February 12. Our preliminary information from Thai human rights organizations is that 50-year-old Abdulaziz Abdullah, a father of 8, died of pneumonia, although he did not have pneumonia, but his illness was exacerbated by 9 years of extremely poor prison conditions, lack of sleep and lack of proper treatment. It is showing that it has caused him to leave.
It turns out that Abdulaziz Abdullah's funeral prayer was offered on February 14 at the Harun Mosque of Thai Muslims in Bangkok, and he was buried in the Harun Cemetery. He is at least the third Uyghur refugee to have died in Thailand and been exposed to the media.
Abdulaziz's son, Muhammed Abdulaziz, who is currently living in Turkey, interviewed us on February 14 and said that the last time he spoke with his father was a month ago, when his father said that his health condition had worsened.
Muhammed Abzulaziz said: "Mau once communicated with my father 2-3 months ago. ``The situation has worsened,'' he said. We were not doing well before him. He told us only a month ago. 'I didn't say it quietly so you wouldn't worry. Now it's a bit heavy, you'll be satisfied with me.''
Muhammed Abdulaziz said that when his father's illness worsened and reached the end stage, the police then moved him to the prison's infirmary. He said that his father was in the hospital bed for about a month, and only a few days before his death, he was brought back to the normal room.
Originally from Guma County, Hotan, Abdulaziz Abdulla moved to Urumqi in the early 2000s and worked as a grocer in Urumqi for many years. After the Urumqi "July 5 massacre" by the Chinese government in 2009, Uyghurs fled to Turkey through Southeast Asia. At the end of 2013, he and his wife and 7 children fled to Thailand through the southeastern provinces of China. But in early 2014, he was caught by the Thai authorities.
Abdulaziz's wife and 8 children, whose 8th child was born in Thailand's immigration detention center, were brought to Turkey in 2015 with the acceptance of the Turkish government, along with 180 other women and children. But the Thai government allowed Abdulaziz's wife and children to go to Turkey, but did not allow him to go to Turkey.
While the Thai government sent about 180 Uyghur women and children to Turkey, it also transferred about 120 Uyghur refugee men and women to China. In addition, more than 50 Uyghur refugees are still detained in Thai immigration centers. Thai human rights organizations said that after the death of Abdulaziz Abdullah, 53 Uighurs remained in the Thai detention center.
Ms. Chalida Tajarunsok, director of "People Empowerment Society", one of the Thai human rights organizations involved in the Uyghur refugee crisis, accepted our interview on February 14 and said that after learning that Abdulaziz was ill, they talked to the police about treating the patient and learned of his death yesterday.
Chalida Tajarunsok said: "We learned from internal information that he was sick. We also discussed with the police about taking him to the hospital for treatment. Finally the police took him to the police hospital. "We only learned of his death yesterday."
Chalida Tajarunsok said Abdul Aziz died of pneumonia and was buried at Harun Muslim Cemetery in Bangkok on the morning of February 14. He said that the deceased was laid to rest according to Islamic customs. Chalida Tajarunsok said: "We negotiated to receive his body, which is to exhume the body according to Islamic customs. Finally the government agreed. We have called on the Thai Czech Islamic community to contact the police. Because when we spoke to the police, they said that they would only give the body to the Czech Islamic community if they requested it. So we contacted the Czech Islamic Society and asked them to apply for burial. We also contacted the National Human Rights Commission and asked the person in charge to speak to a Thai police officer. The man was an adviser to the Thai Security Council and was himself a Muslim. He was very helpful. Finally, we received the body of the deceased today, prayed at Harun Mosque, and placed it in his place.
Abdulaziz's family provided to our radio in the official written certificate of the death of Thai forensic doctors, the cause of his death was not indicated. It is not known why the cause of death was not mentioned in the coroner's official written report. But his death has raised concerns among Thai human rights groups about the health conditions of Uyghur refugees. Chalida Tajarunsok said that after this incident, he will submit a report to the Thai authorities on improving prison conditions and medical conditions for Uighur refugees. He hopes that this incident will become a turning point in the treatment of Uyghurs.
"I will prepare a report and submit it to the Thai National Security Commission and ask them to consider changing the treatment of Uyghurs in Thai immigration centers," said Tajarunsok. I hope that we will improve the police's treatment of Uyghurs, and that this incident will be a turning point in the way police officers treat Uyghurs."
After the "July 5 Urumqi Massacre" in Urumqi in 2009, the Chinese government's massive political and religious persecution of Uyghurs forced thousands of Uyghurs to leave their homes and live in provinces and autonomous regions in southeastern China with their families and children. It created a wave of refugees to Southeast Asian countries and from there to Turkey. The wave of Uighurs fleeing this corridor to Turkey peaked between 2012 and 2015.
In the process, many Uyghurs died in the swamps of Southeast Asia or were captured in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and other countries and returned to China. Those who were returned to China were never found again.