Feb 02, 2004

Uyghur refugees face execution if expelled from India


UNPO General Secretary writes to the Indian Ambassador

H.E. Ms. Shyamala B. Cowsik
Ambassador of the Republic of India
Buitenrustweg 2
2517 KD The Hague
The Netherlands

The Hague, 18 August 2003


Your Excellency,


The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) presents its compliments to the Republic of India, and has the honour to refer to the following urgent matter.

It has come to our attention that the authorities of the Republic of India intend to, or have already repatriated 8 Uyghurs from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, from Northwest China, who have received refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and at present living in Delhi .

The UNPO regards this development in a very high serious light, particularly as the UNHCR recognized all these refugees, which means that their position and stay in the Republic of India is determined by practices of International Law, including refugee law.

The later clearly prohibits the return of anyone to a country where his person runs risk of being executed, tortured or unfairly arrested. The Republic of India, as a respected nation-state and a member of the UN is a party signatory to this.

Furthermore, the authorities of the Republic of India should be fully aware of the extent to which fundamental human rights, including the right to life and freedom from arbitrary arrests and torture are grossly violated by the Chinese Communist authorities.

These violations , particularly against the ethnic Uyghurs, are well documented by the international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The European Parliament and the US Congress have also in recent past passed resolutions calling the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to respect the human rights of the ethnic Uyghurs in China.

Against this background, the UNPO urgently pleads with the Government of the Republic of India not to deport these Uyghurs. You are kindly requested to allow these Uyghurs to stay in India and to protect them until UNHCR can settle them in a third country in Europe.


The UNPO and my humble self has always held the Republic of India and its Government in high esteem. It is trusted that your forthcoming immediate action would serve to strengthen this.

The UNPO avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Government of India the assurance of its highest appreciation.


Yours respectfully,

Marino Busdachin
UNPO Executive Director