People praying at Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2018. (Chainwit/Wikimedia Commons)
KORAT, Thailand — The U.S. Embassy in Thailand this week advised U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution and vigilance” following Thailand’s recent deportation of asylum-seekers to China.
The Thai government on Feb. 27 deported at least 40 Uyghur asylees back to China, prompting a reminder from the embassy that a similar deportation in 2015 was followed by a terrorist attack in Bangkok.
That attack involved improvised explosive devices detonated at the Erawan Shrine, killing 20 people and injuring 125 others, according to an embassy alert Tuesday to military personnel in Thailand.
Two Chinese Uyghurs accused of the attack are still on trial in Thailand after long delays; a third defendant, a Thai woman, was acquitted in November, according to The Associated Press.
Approximately 3,200 U.S. troops are in Thailand for Cobra Gold, an annual exercise that this year drew another 4,800 troops from 30 countries, including limited participation by China.
U.S. citizens are urged to review security plans, follow local authorities’ instructions and exercise increased vigilance, especially in crowded tourist locations, according to the embassy alert.
The military exercise is thus far unaffected by the alert or deportation, Capt. Jennifer Messina, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army 7th Infantry Division’s Combined Joint Information Bureau, told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
“All scheduled Cobra Gold activities and events continued as planned,” she said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned “in the strongest possible terms” Thailand’s decision to deport the Uyghurs, members of a primarily Muslim ethnic minority in China, according to a Feb. 27 statement.
Uyghurs in China lack due process rights and have “faced persecution, forced labor, and torture,” Rubio said.
“China, under the direction and control of the Chinese Communist Party, has committed genocide and crimes against humanity targeting predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other members of ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang,” he said.
Thai authorities detained more than 300 Uyghurs fleeing China in 2014 and have since deported at least 109 to China and another 173 to Turkey. Of the 53 remaining, three adults and two children have died in detention, the AP reported Feb. 28.
