CORRECTED COPY - DEPORTATION SCENARIO FOR 20 UIGHUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PHNOM PENH 000954 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, PRM GENEVA FOR RMA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2019 TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV PHUM CB SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - DEPORTATION SCENARIO FOR 20 UIGHUR ASYLUM-SEEKERS REF: A. PHNOM PENH 934 ¶B. PHNOM PENH 926 ¶C. PHNOM PENH 925 ¶D. PHNOM PENH 913 PHNOM PENH 00000954 001.2 OF 004 Classified by Charge 'd Affaires Theodore Allegra for reasons 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On December 19 at 9:15 p.m., the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) deported 20 Uighur asylum-seekers back to China. Police removed the Uighurs from their safe house on December 18 around 6:00 p.m., and held them in a detention facility inside the Ministry of Interior compound for 26 hours before placing the group on a chartered jet that arrived from China. END SUMMARY. -------------- Uigher Arrivals and Assistance -------------- ¶2. (C) The first known Uighur asylum-seeker arrived in Phnom Penh on May 31; the remaining 21 arrived in October and November. The Embassy first learned of the influx of Uighurs to Cambodia on November 17, from a walk-in contact. All 22 sought assistance from JRS, which helped them file for asylum with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Phnom Penh. Up through December 16, JRS housed the Uighurs in four locations. A four-person family (husband, wife, 2-year-old child, 6-month-old infant) stayed inside the JRS compound while the remaining Uighurs, all men, were spread between three rental houses. However, the 18 living outside the JRS compound were congregating at the largest of the three rental properties and sleeping there together. JRS provided money for food and other necessities, but the group was doing its own shopping until early December. (NOTE: UNHCR provides no assistance to asylum-seekers who are awaiting refugee status determination. Asylum-seekers are expected to find their own lodging, food, and other support. UNHCR typically notes the availability of Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) for assistance if needed. JRS is the only NGO in Cambodia providing regular legal and humanitarian assistance to asylum-seekers. END NOTE.) ¶3. (C) On December 4, the Uighurs' presence in Cambodia became widely known with the publication of information about them in several newspapers, on the radio and Internet. The Embassy urged UNHCR to reconsider providing protection to the group, and UNHCR Regional Director Raymond Hall said the agency began considering options for assisting the RGC in providing increased security to the group. ¶5. (C) Based on a discussion December 14 between UNHCR Deputy Regional Representative Giuseppe de Vincentis and Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, UNHCR and the RGC made joint plans to relocate the Uighurs to a more secure location (Ref D). Mid-day on December 16, UNHCR vehicles transported the Uighurs to Montagnard Site 3, a restricted site managed by a UNHCR implementing partner, and which houses approximately 90 Montagnard asylum-seekers and refugees awaiting resettlement. (NOTE: Cambodian police did not transport the group, as stated in an RGC diplomatic note. END NOTE.) Cambodian National Police officers provided security for the Montagnard site. The Uighurs spent the night of December 16 at Site 3 (Ref C). ¶6. (C) During the move, UNHCR and JRS discovered that 2 Uighurs were no longer present. Sister Denise Coghlan told Pol Chief that the two were believed to have run away on their own (Ref C). According to JRS, the two left the large rental house around 3:00 p.m. on December 15, telling their companions that they were returning to one of the other rental houses in order to do laundry; they took their wallets, including some money, and their "person of concern" letters when they departed the house. The remaining Uighurs told JRS they believed the two had decided to spend the night at one of the other houses. Consequently, when JRS checked in with the group by cell phone the night of December 15, the 16 at the house did not alert JRS that the two had not returned. UNHCR noticed the absence when they conducted a roll-call December 16 at Site 3 following the move. The group then explained the circumstances to UNHCR and JRS. ¶7. (C) On the afternoon of December 17, UNHCR relocated the Uighur group a second time, to a limited-access safe house rented by UNHCR, which was to be jointly managed by UNHCR and the RGC. JRS reported that they had full access to the safe house and the Uighurs. The JRS legal advocate made an unannounced visit to the house the afternoon of December 18, and was allowed access without problems. The JRS advocate last saw the group at approximately 4:30 p.m. on December 18, when she departed the safe house. PHNOM PENH 00000954 002.2 OF 004 Classified by Charge d' Affaires Theodore Allegra for reasons 1.4 (B, D) -------------- RGC About Face -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The RGC maintained a consistent response through December 17, claiming that it would abide by its obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuoung noted December 17 that the RGC was "cooperating with UNHCR to conduct interviews to determine whether the Uighurs are eligible for refugee status." ¶9. (C) On December 18, the Embassy learned from UNHCR that the RGC had signed the long-awaited Sub-Decree implementing Cambodia's obligations under the UN Refugee Convention (Ref A). The Sub-Decree had been under review for months, and was not expected to be put into effect until early 2010. The Sub-Decree assigned full power for making RSD decisions to the Minister of Interior, which was in keeping with UNHCR's expectation. However, immediately after the Sub-Decree was signed, Acting Minister of the Interior Em Sam An signed an order authorizing the deportation of the Uighurs within 7 days under the Immigration Law. ¶10. (SBU) The RGC tone in public statements also changed abruptly late on December 18, when Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak suddenly declared that the group "were not real refugees" but rather "criminals escaping from China and involved with a terrorist organization." The comment and tone was nearly identical to statements made by a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 15 and repeated on December 17. -------------- Detention -------------- ¶11. (C) At 7:00 p.m. on December 18, when a source at the RGC Refugee Office told UNHCR that the Uighurs would be deported. The initial report that the group had been placed on an outbound commercial flight to China at 6:00 p.m. proved false. Further investigation revealed the Uighurs were still in Cambodia and detained at a municipal detention facility inside the Ministry of Interior (MOI) compound. To monitor the potential refoulement of the group, the U.S. Embassy, UNHCR, and a few NGOs provided coverage at the airport until the last outbound commercial flight to China departed at 2:00 a.m. December 19 with no sign the Uighurs had been moved from the detention facility. The same groups monitored commericial flight departures bound for China at 8:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. December 19, with no sign of the Uighurs. ¶12. (C) Reports indicated that police removed the Uighur group at gunpoint from the safe house and transported them to the detention center at the MOI compound around 6:00 p.m. December 18. According to text messages coming from a mobile phone belonging to the one woman in the group, and likely written by the the one Uighur who arrived May 31 and who spoke English, the 20 Uighurs were held in two small cells at the detention center; many were kept handcuffed. Reports indicated police were rough with several of the Uighurs during the removal from the safe house. -------------- Deportation -------------- ¶13. (C) A JRS observer saw a bus entering the MOI compound around 3:00 p.m. December 19. Monitoring at the airport continued at 4:45 p.m. after discussion with multiple sources unearthed credible information that a chartered jet from China would arrive to transport the Uighurs back to China. At 7:15 p.m., JRS observers monitoring the Ministry of Interior compound reported that a bus with curtains drawn on all windows departed the MOI compound under police escort. JRS attempted to follow the bus, but eventually lost it in traffic. By 7:40 p.m., UNHCR observers stationed near the entrance to the military airbase reported seeing a similar bus enter the secured area. ¶14. (C) Shortly thereafter UNHCR also observed a plane approaching for a landing at the airport, although no commercial flight arrival was scheduled. Minutes later, Embassy and NGO observers at the main airport saw a plane taxiing without lights from the runway towards the airbase, followed shortly thereafter by a fuel truck and truck-mounted boarding stairs. Observers could not see the plane thereafter, and were unable to see if or when boarding PHNOM PENH 00000954 003.2 OF 004 Classified by Charge d' Affaires Theodore Allegra for reasons 1.4 (B, D) occurred. NGO observers stated that a plane suddenly reappeared from the far side of the airport at 8:55 p.m., taxiing directly to the runway. MOI spokesman Khieu Sopheak stated that the plane carrying 20 Uighurs departed at 9:15 p.m. bound for China. Observers asked airport ground staff which plane it was, and were told the plane was a "VIP plane to China" that was not on the regular departure schedule. The Embassy confirmed the unscheduled nature of the departure after checking to see that all regularly scheduled commercial flights were still on the ground. -------------- NGO Response -------------- ¶15. (SBU) NGOs and international organizations immediately condemned the deportation in the strongest possible terms. UNHCR expressed deep distress at this "grave breach of international refugee law." Country Representative for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Christophe Peschoux said the decision violated not just the UN Refugee Convention, but also the Convention Against Torture and the Convention on Civil and Political Rights. The head of JRS, Sister Denise Coghlan, called the deportation "a betrayal of trust and a terrible violation...given that we've seen a realtively humane policy to refugees until now." -------------- Uighur Asylum Seekers -------------- ¶16. (C) By date of arrival in Phnom Penh, the Uighur asylum-seekers are listed below. At COB December 21, numbers 5 an 6 remain unaccounted for. May 31 -------------- (C) 1. Tuniyazi Aikebaierjiang, male, DOB 13-FEB-1982, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur October 1 -------------- (C) 2. Mutallip Mamut, male, DOB 10-JUL-1980, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 3. Islam Urayin, male, DOB 16-JUL-1980, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 4. Hazirtiele Umar, male, DOB 07-JUN-1990, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur November 1 -------------- (C) 5. Ruzi Ali, male, DOB 04-DEC-1976, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 6. Amiu Muhamad, male, DOB 20-OCT-1985, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 7. Omar Mohammed, male, DOB 07-MAR-1971, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 8. Mahmut Bilal, male, DOB 07-MAR-1983, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 9. Turik Muhamed, male, DOB 04-DEC-1984, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 10. Ebrayim Mamat, male, 10-AUG-1972, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 11. Mamat Ali, male, DOB 16-JUL-1972, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 12. Ali Ahmat, male, DOB 29-DEC-1979, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 13. Ali Nur, male, DOB 15-MAY-1979, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 14. Kuban Kanwul, male, DOB 09-JAN-1977, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 15. Muhamad Musa, male, DOB 15-JUN-1987, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 16. Amat Eli, male, DOB 01-JAN-1967, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 17. Abdugheni Halil, male, DOB 08-FEB-1987, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 18. Abdulla Kasim, male, DOB 02-OCT-1986, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur November 4 - family of four -------------- (C) 19. Abdugheni Abdulkadir, male, DOB 07-OCT-1987, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 20. Kurban Shaida, female, DOB 01-JUL-1989, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (pregnant) (C) 21. Abdugheni Bilal, male, DOB 17-JUL-2008, Nationality PHNOM PENH 00000954 004.2 OF 004 Classified by Charge d' Affaires Theodore Allegra for reasons 1.4 (B, D) Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur (C) 22. Abdugheni Maymuna, female, DOB 28-JUN-2009, Nationality Chinese, Ethnicity Uighur ALLEGRA