PRESS RELEASE                                                                                              For Immediate Release

Planned Deportation to China:

UNPO and WUC Deeply Concerned over

Imminent Deportation of Uyghur

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) jointly urge the Dutch authorities and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to reconsider their decision to deport a Uyghur asylum seeker from the Netherlands to China, where he will face harsh punishment at the hands of Chinese authorities.    

Mr. Kurbanjan Mutalip, whose deportation is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 4 July 2012, was forced to flee China in 2009 as a result of his pro-human rights and democracy activism which he subsequently continued in the Netherlands. China takes a hard-line approach against such advocacy, and it implements harsh punishments on legitimate dissident voices.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, long periods in prison on weak or false charges, and even executions have been known to greet Uyghurs upon their forcible return to China.  Rebiya Kadeer, WUC President, stated that this case will be no exception: ‘If Kurbanjan is sent back to China, past precedents all indicate that he will be subjected to gross violations of his human rights.'

In this vein, the UNPO and the WUC urgently appeal for the Dutch authorities and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to take stock of the situation by maintaining the highest standard of respect for human rights. “This decision goes against international standards of human rights law, particularly the peremptory norm of non-refoulement which is a non-derogable right that all should abide”, Marino Busdachin, Secretary General of UNPO, stated in immediate response to the decision.

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For further information please contact:

Louise Fahey   |   +32 (0)251 31459   |  [email protected]