Amnesty International is urging the Cambodian Government not to return 22 Uighur asylum seekers and to ensure that they have access to a fair asylum process.

It is believed that the Chinese government has formally requested the Cambodian authorities to send these asylum seekers back to China.

"The Chinese authorities suspect them of claiming asylum abroad on grounds relating to the unrest in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in July 2009," says Sam Zarifi Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Director.

"We believe that these Uighurs would be particularly vulnerable to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment if they are sent back."

The Government of Cambodia is bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of persons to a country where they are at risk of execution, torture or other serious human rights violations as outlined in Article 33 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and in numerous other international instruments.

The forcible return of persons to a country where they could face torture and other ill-treatment would also constitute a violation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Cambodia is a state party. The principle of non-refoulement is widely regarded as a norm of customary international law, binding on all states.

As a state party to the Refugee Convention, the Cambodian refugee authorities must also consider thoroughly and objectively the claims of all asylum seekers, irrespective of nationality and ethnicity. Additionally, when such a status determination process concludes that an individual needs protection, Cambodia must offer protection to them.

Since September 2001, Amnesty International has documented cases in which Uighur asylum seekers who were forcibly returned to China, were detained, reportedly tortured and in some cases sentenced to death and executed.

Since the unrest in Xinjiang in July 2009, the Chinese authorities have detained thousands of people, brought dozens to trial, threatened those involved in the unrest with harsh sentences, executed nine individuals, and handed down another eight death sentences and long prison terms to other individuals charged for involvement in the July unrest. Many Uighurs are arbitrarily detained and jailed as political prisoners or prisoners of conscience.

"Cambodia is one of only two countries in Southeast Asia to have signed the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) and its 1967 Protocol," says Zarifi. "In the past, hundreds of Montagnard asylum-seekers from Viet Nam, for example, have been offered protection in Cambodia, including through resettlement to third countries."

Amnesty International urges the Government of Cambodia to honor its obligations under international law, and in particular the Refugee Convention, by providing the 22 Uighur asylum seekers with a fair asylum process and ensuring that they are not returned to China and the risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Taken from an open letter to the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.