Did Canada Give A Rap On The Knuckle To Both Mahinda And Sharma?

| by Upul Joseph Fernando

( April 23, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) International political commentators have come up with a highly probable reason for Canada’s withdrawal of Commonwealth funds rather abruptly. They contend that it was a palpable snub to both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Kamalesh Sharma who are current Chairperson and Secretary General respectively of the Commonwealth Heads of States Association. Rather more precisely, Canada has shown quite openly its displeasure with Sharma where his obvious favourable treatment of Sri Lanka and its President Rajapaksa are concerned at different times during the past few years.

Did Canada Give a Rap on the Knuckle to Both Mahinda and Sharma by nelvely

Video: Mangala urges removal of MR as C’wealth Chair

TUESDAY, 22 APRIL 2014

United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera said today the Hambantota incident was further evidence of the violation of the Commonwealth Charter and urged Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma to remove President Mahinda Rajapaksa from the post of Commonwealth Chairman.

“Mahinda Rajapaksa is not Gaddafi. He is the Chairman of the Commonwealth and therefore he is bound to uphold the Commonwealth Charter. However, what happened in his electorate is evident that he has violated the Commonwealth Charter. Therefore I urge the Secretary General to call for a meeting of the Ministers and expel Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chairman after considering the violations of the Charter,” he said.

Mr. Samaraweera said it was Sharma who was responsible for Mahinda Rajapaksa’s induction as Commonwealth Chairman.

“Sharma is not a baby, he knows what this regime is doing,” he said and added that by describing the attack as the reaction of the people, the President was shielding the thugs who led the attack.

“The President has tried to portray that this as a reaction of the people. That clearly indicates that the President is defending these thugs who blatantly attacked parliamentarians. This is a furtherance of this thug culture. He is the Leader of the state and the Minister of Defense and the Minister in Charge of Defense and coming to the rescue of these thugs he has shown who the godfather of this thug culture is,” Mr. Samaraweera said.

In a scathing attack on the conduct of the Police, he said the entire Police top brass have transformed into “boot lickers” of the regime.

“The Police of Sri Lanka was one of the disciplined and dedicated forces in the entire South East Asia region. That was the reputation of the Police in the days gone by, but today the police are boot lickers the Medamulana walawwa and that is embarrassing. The main bootlicker of this regime is the present Police spokesman,” Mr. Samaraweera said.

BBS leader Gnanassara gets automatic pistol from police field HQ: Officially not recorded

(Lanka-e-News- 23.April.2014, 4.00PM) The SL criminal defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse had 21st Monday issued an automatic firearm and matching bullets in compliance with the request made in writing by Bebedhu Galagoda Aththe Gnanassara Thero, the leader of the Bodhu Bala sena (BBS) which has by now been condemned and classified as a terrorist organization internationally. 

The firearm identified as Brownig 9 m,.m. automatic pistol of Czechoslavakia , as well as 50 matching bullets have been issued.

Usually , firearms issued by the defense Ministry are from the armory of the army, but the firearm issued to Gnanassara Thero is from the stores of the Police field force headquarters . The weapon and bullets have been issued out of those allotted to the VIPs. Gnanassara collected them after signing , but the issue of the weapon and bullets, and receipt of them had neither been recorded in the registers nor signatures taken of the recipient .

The issue of arms and bullets just by taking signatures on a temporary letter, without records being made in the official registers, to the BBS which is operating as a paramilitary group of the lawless Rajapakse regime is fraught with grave danger and holds out most ominous portents to the peace loving and law abiding citizens of the country , sources say.

It is the consensus that BBS is arming itself with weapons supplied by the government but falsely declaring to the media that they are subjected to threats by the government . It is also issuing bogus media communiqués to that effect making loud announcements about the letters sent to the President , in order to lead the gullible people down the garden path.

Government Protects and Promotes BBS

Muslim parliamentarians protect the government

Calls to ban BBS and prosecute its leaders

By Latheef Farook-04/23/2014 

The government and opposition parliamentarians began, directly and indirectly, accusing the government of being behind the Sinhala extremist Bodu Bala Sena and its anti Muslim campaign following its attack on the Slave Island Nippon Hotel press briefing of Jathika Bala Sena -JBs.  The JBS is another group of Buddhist monk organization that promotes Peace and co-existence in the country.

Government Protects and Promotes BBS by nelvely

President tells Vijitha to attack Gnanasara!

 Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Telephoning Ven. Watareka Vijitha Thera, convener of the controversial Jathika Bala Sena yesterday (22) afternoon, president Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised him anything he wants for his safety, Temple Trees sources say.

“Ven. Thera, this Gnanasara is an IRC wearing a robe. I cannot do anything about him because I respect the robe. He has insulted my mother who is dead. I won’t forgive him for that. Younger brother Gota does not listen to me. He is playing hell by taking his powers to his hands. Do not fear anything. I will give you PSD security. Ven. Thera, you should not run away in fear. I will take care of everything. What you have to do is attack Gnanasara and others in Bodu Bala Sena. I will take care of everything,” he has told the Thera.

Overhearing the telephone conversation, an advisor has told the president, “Mr. president, it is one of the gravest sins to divide the Sangha.” Angered by that remark, the president has said, “… Dividing the Sangha is taking place among the monks. The laity can divide the Sangha. You cannot teach me Buddhism,” and showed him the door.

The president has given the call after some thinking as to how he could make use of the protest in front of Teldeniya Pradeshiya Sabha earlier in the day against Vijitha Thera, for his government’s advantage.

India: Marginalized Children Denied Education

Use Monitoring, Redress Mechanisms to Keep Pupils in School

APRIL 22, 2014
(New Delhi) – School authorities inIndia persistently discriminate against children from marginalized communities, denying them their right to education, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Four years after an ambitious education law went into effect in India guaranteeing free schooling to every child ages 6 to 14, almost every child is enrolled, yet nearly half are likely to drop out before completing their elementary education.

India Marginalized Children Denied Education by nelvely

Fanatical Buddhism rides deriding true Buddhism : Another foreign tourist deported for Buddha tattoo on body
(Lanka-e-News- 23.April.2014, 4.00PM) A British tourist who arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday (21) and who had on her right forearm tattooed the picture of Lord Buddha seated on a Lotus flower was deported yesterday . Though she arrived in Sri Lanka (SL) from India , the land of the birth of Lord Buddha , she had not suffered this cranky treatment while she was there .

This is the second time such a tourist has been deported for having the picture of Lord Buddha tattooed on the body . The tourist who was deported yesterday was 37 years old British national Ms. Michelle Cameline. When she arrived at the Katunayake airport , she was arrested and produced before the Negombo additional magistrate Thilakaratne Bandara of the MaRa court by the Airport police.

PC Dissanayake ( 38226) and the airport police sergeant W. A. D. Weerasinghe ( 64057) who filed charges against the tourist had mentioned in the indictment that, as the tattooed picture was on the right forearm and very visible to the public , it can trigger grave provocation and unrest among the public if she enters the country.

The Negombo additional magistrate Thilakaratne Bandara , one of the many buffoons of the MaRa kangaroo court who heard the case, displaying his stupidity and eccentricity instead of dispensing justice decided that she be immediately deported .He therefore ordered that the tourist be handed over to the Mirihana detention camp under the Immigration and Emigration department .

Mahinda Sugathadasa lawyer , and Indika Silva , senior lawyer appeared on behalf of the tourist. 

The funniest part of this so called love shown to Lord Buddha was exposed thus : while this British tourist who knows nothing about Buddhism and who tattooed the picture of Lord Buddha on her body innocently is being harassed and sent back , the monk Pahalagama Somaratne Thero who ought to know Buddhism most and was found guilty for committing a most heinous crime of raping a girl and still serving a jail sentence of 8 years in Britain is allowed to continue to be in the SL sasana (Buddhist order).

Incidentally in 2012 , three French tourists were sentenced to 6 months in jail by the MaRa court and barred from visiting Sri Lanka (SL) for five years on charges of kissing a Buddha statue .

When the leader of the ruling regime who is slowly building a Buddhist fundamental government met the Mahanayake of the Asgiriya chapter recently after the Sinhala new year , the latter made an extremist request. The Mahanayake told , Buddha pictures are appearing in the printed newspapers without permission , and they are being used in hotels to wipe the hands which constitute an insult to Buddhism . Therefore laws must be enacted in relation to the pictures of Buddha being printed in the newspapers. The Prelate also handed over a petition supposedly signed by the people.

While the leader of the country is indulging in all the hypocritical acts in the name of religion to please the satanic groups of monks and promoting the corrupt side of Buddhism for cheap political gains in sharp contrast to the true pristine Buddhism preached by Lord Buddha , Ven. Weththewe Thero a Buddhist prelate was recently killed by his junior monk by stabbing him with a knife; and yesterday (22) , a 26 year old resident monk , Ven . Galagama Pangnassara Thero of Kandy Malwatte temple committed suicide by hanging.

SRI LANKA / WORLD: Under which law did the Magistrate make the order to deport the lady tourist with the Tattoo of Lord Buddha?

April 23, 2014

According to reports a 37 year old British nurse who arrived in Sri Lanka this Monday (21st April 2014) was taken by a taxi driver to a nearby police station where, according to her, she was harassed by policemen who demanded money from her. She had arrived at the Airport and the immigration authorities had allowed her to enter the country. She had earlier visited Sri Lanka and several other Buddhist countries and followed meditation under the guidance of Buddhist monks.

Photo: Naomi Coleman, 37, was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka for 'hurting religious feelings' with her sleeve depicting Buddha on a lotus flower

SRI LANKA WORLD Under Which Law Did the Magistrate Make the Order to Deport the Lady Tourist With the Tatto... by nelvely

BBS challenges govt.

By Harischandra Gunaratna-April 23, 2014

General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) yesterday challenged the government to take legal action against Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph forthwith who, he alleged, had helped the LTTE.

"If the government had the backbone and if its conscience was clear it should without hesitation arrest the Mannar Bishop for atrocities committed by the now defunct terrorist outfit," he said.

Claiming that the BBS was not scared of either the government or any other political party, Ven. Gnanasara added that what the organisation was doing was protecting Buddhism from religious extremists and other elements who were all out to wipe out Buddhism from the Country.

Addressing a news conference at the BBS headquarters in Kirulapone, Ven. Ganasara warned President Rajapaksa to beware of conspirators within the government.

He said that BBS had not attacked a single mosque nor any other religious institution though it had been targeted by extremist forces, NGOs and some ministers in the government.

The monk asked why the government was keeping silent on that matter.

Ven. Gnanasara said that National Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara should be questioned by police as he had made a serious statement to a newspaper claiming that the BBS consisted of terrorists disguised as Buddhists.

BBC correspondent denied visa and told to leave Sri Lanka

Charles Haviland, the BBC’s correspondent in Sri Lanka, has been denied a visa extension by the government and told to leave the country.

21 APRIL 2014 

The respected journalist, who has been reporting from Sri Lanka since the final days of the civil war in 2009, applied for a one year renewal to his visa which expired this month, but was refused by the External Affairs Ministry and given a few days to leave the country.  Pressure from senior foreign journalists in Colombo led to the Ministry giving Haviland a three month extension, but he will then be forced to leave Sri Lanka for good.

Media Ministry secretary Charitha Herath said that Haviland’s visa extension had been refused because there was a 5 year limit on visas for foreign journalists.  Media Minsiter Keheliya Rambukwella said that granting Haviland any further extension would be “unreasonable”.

However, the Foreign Correspondents’ Association said that they were not aware of the rule, which had never been invoked before.

“The FCA is unaware of any time limits on visas issued to foreign journalists posted to Sri Lanka. However, we have noted remarks by the authorities that the Media Ministry will articulate in the coming week their policy on visas for foreign correspondents, and we look forward to seeing it,” FCA said in a statement.

FCA also noted that the existing the policy adopted by Sri Lankan authorities on foreign journalists is available on the External Affairs Ministry website, but it makes no reference to how long a foreign journalist can work in Sri Lanka.

The move to deny the BBC correspondent a visa will both increase worries about the freedom of the press, and also about the country’s visa policies, and what motivates the decision to allow or deny entry into the country.  Over the last 12 months, and particularly since CHOGM, foreign companies, NGOs, and even embassies have all reported severe difficulties in obtaining visas and visa extensions for their staff, without clear explanations for the reasons ever being offered.

The ejection of Haviland, who has occasionally been critical of the government, also comes at a time when the authorities in Sri Lanka are stepping up a campaign against what they claim is a “resurgence” of the LTTE.  Haviland has frequently reported from the North of the country and has a wide range of contacts there, but he will not now be able to report on the latest developments

Yet another fleeting opportunity

by Thyagi Ruwanpathirana 

 

- on 04/23/2014

Anxiety dominates the post-Geneva political climate in Sri Lanka, the result of a heady mixture of different reasons, which sees the ruling regime pursuing short-sighted solutions in order to neutralise.

Yet Another Fleeting Opportunity by nelvely

WikiLeaks: Fonseka Wanted A Truth And Reconciliation Commission

 April 23, 2014

“Samaraweera had no faith in the Rajapaksas to address meaningfully the questions of national reconciliation and accountability, despite their great importance for the health and future of Sri Lanka. Mahinda Rajapaksa was ‘not so bad,’ but his family (that is, brothers Gotabhaya and Basil) had made him a prisoner of the worst racist and chauvinist elements in society. Mahinda himself also was firmly opposed to any devolution of power and had argued in closed government meetings that he wanted Sri Lanka to be a ‘unitary’ not just a ‘united’ country.” the US Embassy Colombo Informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The classified “CONFIDENTIAL” cable recounts details of a meeting  the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A. Butenis has had with General Sarath Fonseka’s chief campaign strategist Mangala Samaraweera on January 6, 2010.

Ambassador Butenis wrote; “Fonseka, on the other hand, had made reconciliation and accountability centerpieces of his campaign. Samaraweera noted the 10-point plan the general had just signed with the TNA leader Sampanthan on political rights and economic re-development of the war-affected areas. He also said Fonseka had been ‘surprising me with his liberalism’ and noted that the general himself had come up with the idea of ensuring freedom of religious belief under a new regime. On the very sensitive issue of accountability, Samaraweera again said he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ that Fonseka believed accountability was important for Sri Lanka, agreed with Samaraweera that the country needed a truth and reconciliation process, like the South Africans, and had ordered the campaign to start working out the logistics of a truth and reconciliation commission. Samaraweera thought that if Fonseka won, the Rajapaksas would be marginalized in the SLFP and the SLFP mainstream would want to work with the new government on reconciliation and accountability.”

Docs to launch strike on April 29 

By Don Asoka Wijewardena-April 23, 2014

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) yesterday said about 17,000 doctors would launch a countrywide strike on April 29 as the Public Service Commission (PSC) had again amended the service minute of the doctors.

Earlier the GMOA was to launch an indefinite strike from April 22, but it was postponed as the PSC had given the green light to Health Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka to issue a special gazette notification approved by the Cabinet.

GMOA committee member Dr. Navin de Soysa told the media at GMOA head office that when Health Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka was about to issue the gazette notification on April 21, on the same afternoon he had received, from the PSC, a faxed copy of the minute where the Cabinet approved provision had been amended in favour of private medical colleges. Dr. Soysa said as far as the GMOA was aware the PSC Secretary did not have extra-ordinary powers to change the original provision of the service minute. He said the GMOA had taken up the difficulties doctors were faced with due to the non-implementation of the service minute with President Mahinda Rajapaksa,

Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge, Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B.Jayasundara, Cabinet Secretary Sumith Abyesinghe, Salaries and Cadre Commission Secretary Bandu Wijeratne and Health Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka.

They all had recommended to Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena to submit the service minute to the Cabinet as the PSC had been delaying the implementation process, he said.

He stressed that the GMOA Executive Committee would announce the nature of the strike on April 24.

All emergency cases and emergency operations would not be hampered. But all the OPDs, routine operations and the clinics would be closed.

I am ready to give evidence before any international inquiry even in Geneva against the government -General Fonseka

(Lanka-e-News- 23.April.2014, 4.00PM) Former Army Commander and present Democratic party leader Sarath Fonseka had stated that he is ready to give evidence before the international investigation that is to be conducted against the human rights violations of the Rajapakse regime. He made this comment when he was speaking at a media briefing held in connection with the attacks launched on the opposition MPs at Hambanthota recently.

The recent attack had clearly confirmed 100 % and even more that the charges of human rights violations mounted against the government at Geneva are true. Like how we would come forward on behalf of the soldiers to defend that they did not commit war crimes , so we are prepared to assert that human rights violations are being violated before any international inquiry at Geneva or the international community or any individual at any time and to go to any place and give evidence where the investigations are conducted, Gen. Fonseka announced. 

Speaking further , he said , the attack launched at Hambantota is not a matter for surprise . We have witnessed a number of such deplorable attacks during the period of elections , and therefore it was considered at the beginning itself that Hambantota is not a place that was rescued.

If a government politico can escape from his criminal liability by disclaiming a pistol that was truly in his possession as not his and was in another’s hand, of what purpose is a police force which are acting as puppets of the government dancing to its criminal tunes ? he asked. In this situation , he stands by the MPs and roundly condemns the violence , Fonseka asserted.

The Hambantota mayor who made a statement to Lanka e news on the day of the incident that he was armed with a pistol and went to the venue to shoot into the air to disperse the crowd on the instructions of Namal Rajapakse , later on told another media that the pistol was taken from the waist of another individual and was a toy pistol.

Subsequently , the mayor stated this was a pistol that is used to shoot bird. Now , his latest version is , he did not have a pistol at all in his hands.

At another media briefing , Srinath Perera PC who bitterly castigated the conduct of the police media spokesman said, the latter is one of those many macaws which is supposed to have escaped ( earlier announced) from the cage of the President.

Resolving CKDu Problem: Too much talk, too 

little action

By Ranjit Mulleriyawa-April 22, 2014

We have had many seminars, symposia and public discussions pertaining to Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Origin (CKDu) during the past two years, but very little action has been initiated to alleviate the suffering of CKDu patients, their families and communities. This writer visited several CKDu endemic villages during the last two months, and it was clearly evident that the villagers in these areas were frustrated and even cynical about the ‘outsiders’ who visit them, "lecture to them, take many photographs, and depart- never to return". Clearly, it is time to give a kick start to well formulated action programmes in CKDu endemic villages based on available knowledge of the problem.

Resolving CKDu Problem  Too Much Talk, Too Little Action by nelvely

Move to appoint ex-principal of Law College to Supreme Court!

 Wednesday, 23 April 2014

The president is moving to appoint former principal of Sri Lanka Law College Dr. Wedage Dantha Rodrigo, a close friend of MP Namal Rajapaksa and himself, to the Supreme Court, according to Temple Trees sources.

At present there are three vacancies to be filled in the SC. The president is nowadays engaged in quite a formidable task of finding persons who will dance to his tune to fill those vacancies.

MP Namal has recommended Dantha Rodrigo to be appointed a judge in the SC for having aided him in the final examination of the Law College by welcoming him with a sheaf of betel leaves on arrival and giving him a separate air-conditioned room with computers to write for the exam by citing security reasons.

Dr. Dantha Rodrigo has promised MP Namal that irrespective of professional ethics, he will protect the president in the same manner he had helped him at the exam. He has promised further that he will fulfill whatever job given him to their satisfaction despite being harshly attacked by the media.

Ministers gatecrash Namal’ b’day party ‘on their way to Kataragama’!

Wednesday, 23 April 2014 

Several ministers had gatecrashed the birthday party at Carlton House in Tangalle of MP Namal Rajapaksa on April 10, claiming that they had paid a visit while on their way to Kataragama. MP Rajapaksa found these uninvited visits by the ministers quite a headache. All of them had told the president and MP Namal that they had come to Carlton House while on their way for Kataragama pilgrimage together with their families.

MP Namal had been angered by their presence, because he could not enjoy himself in the company of his friends, including those in his home village. Among the ministers who had gatecrashed the party, he had found deputy minister of posts, former national cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, to be the worst annoyance of all.

MP Namal had tried several times to avoid Jayasuriya, but he had continued to come after him. In the end, he has told the deputy minister, “You are quite a nuisance. Leave me alone.” Thinking that MP Namal was playing a joke on him, Jayasuriya had continued to go after him. Seeing the incident, the president had taken him to a corner and explained the situation. Sometime later, Jayasuriya had left Carlton House like a batsman returning to the pavilion after getting himself out.

VIDEO: Packer completely exempt from taxes - UNP

April 23, 2014 
The UNP today accused the government of granting complete tax exemptions for James Packer and Ravi Wjeratne. Speaking at a press conference UNP MP Harsha De Silva charged that the government has planned to completely exempted them from the 12% VAT and 2% M.B.T and in place only imposed a new 5% casino tax.


He claimed that despite this the government continues to mislead the public by stating that the hotel project does not include a casino. This talk is similar to claim by the Hambantota Mayor that he brought a toy pistol to protect UNP MPs, Harsha stated.


When two monkeys mate the result is another monkey and when two casino giants get together the result will surely be another casino, Harsha claimed. 

Armed robbers break into bank in Moratuwa 




April 23, 2014
Two armed men have robbed Rs 70 0000 from a private bank in Idama area in Moratuwa , the Police Media Unit told Ceylon Today Online.
 
The robbery has taken place around 1.00 p.m. this afternoon.
 
Moratuwa police are conducting further investigations into the incident.

PLO and Hamas agree landmark unity pact

The move, announced at a joint news conference by both sides, has aim of forming unity government within five weeks

Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas agreed to implement a unity pact, with the aim of forming a government within five weeks. Photograph: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas on Wednesday agreed to implement a unity pact, with the aim of forming a government within five weeks.

The move, announced at a joint news conference by both sides, includes the intention to hold national elections six months after a vote of confidence by the Palestinian parliament.

Palestinians have long hoped for a healing of the political rift between the PLO and the Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas, which won the Palestinian elections in 2006 and in 2007 took control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to the western-backed the president, Abbas.

Arab-brokered unity pacts reached between the two sides had not been implemented to date, and many Palestinians were left feeling sceptical about their leaders' reconciliation pledges.

"This is the good news we tell our people: the era of division is over," Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's prime minister, told Palestinian reporters.

Hamas has repeatedly battled Israel, which it refuses to recognise. Before the announcement on Wednesday, Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, cautioned Abbas over the unity efforts, saying he had to choose between peace with Israel or its Islamist enemy.

Abbas's Fatah party has remained in control of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and pursued troubled peace talks with Israel, which are set to expire on 29 April.

Murder on Vietnam-China border highlights Uighur plight

Vietnam border soldiers hand over bodies to Chinese authorities. Pic: Thành Duy.

By Edward Barbour-Lacey Apr 23, 2014 

Violence erupted on Vietnam’s border with China last week when five Chinese civilians and two Vietnamese border guards were killed.

The episode occurred at the Bac Phong Sinh border crossing in the country’s northern Quang Ninh Province, along the border of China’s Guangxi Province.

The Chinese citizens were caught attempting to enter Vietnam illegally and were in the process of being deported back to China by Vietnamese border guards.

The violence began when some of the 16 detainees being deported grabbed Ak-47 rifles from their Vietnamese guards and began firing at their captors. The detainee group was made up of ten men, four women, and two children.

According to Vietnamese government reports, hundreds of Vietnamese border guards and police officers responded to the incident and surrounded the building that had been taken over by the Chinese.

The Chinese were urged to surrender, however, this did not prevent the death of many in the group.  Some of the Chinese chose to commit suicide, by jumping off the roof of the building, rather than surrender.  Others were killed during the Vietnamese forces operation to retake the building.

Perhaps explaining the Chinese group’s reluctance to return to China, the members of the group have now been identified as being Muslim, possibly being Uighurs and hailing from Xinjiang province in China

Known officially as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Xinjiang province is located in northwest China. The majority of the Uighurs in this region live in the Tarim Basin.  While still a minority in China, there are over 10 million Uighurs living in the country.

There has been increasing unrest recently between China’s majority Han population and the minority Uighur group.  The Uighurs complain of harassment from the Hans and of harsh government crackdowns.

However, in China there have also been some high-profile attacks perpetrated by persons of Uighur ethnicity.  These include an apparent suicide attack by a carload of Uighurs in the area of Tiananmen Square, nearby the Forbidden City in Beijing. An additional incident occurred in Kunming where over 140 people were injured and 29 were killed by knife-wielding extremists.

As tensions continue to swirl around the country, growing numbers of Chinese Uighurs have been filtering, usually illegally, into the neighboring Southeast Asian countries.

Besides Vietnam, Thailand has also seen the number of illegal Uighur immigrants rise.  The largest group of Uighurs caught by Thai border guards numbered over 400.

Many of the Uighurs caught leaving China say that they are travelling to Turkey – the Uighurs speak a version of the Turkish language.

Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have called on countries such as Vietnam and Thailand to refrain from returning the Uighurs to China in fear of the treatment that they might be subjected to.

China and Vietnam have a history of border disputes dating back to the short border war occurring in 1979. This tension continues around the dispute over the South China Sea.  It is not yet clear whether the Chinese authorities will issue an official complaint to Vietnam over the treatment of the Chinese Uighurs in this recent incident.