Thai consulate in Turkey attacked

The Istanbul protesters have attacked the Thai consulate following the deportation of 100 Uighur Muslim migrants to China.

The protesters, using wooden planks and stones, smashed windows and broke into the Thai consulate late on Wednesday, throwing folders and personal belongings on the floor, pictures and video footage published by local media showed.

It was the latest in a series of attacks in Istanbul in recent days, mostly by a youth group linked to the national opposition MHP, in protest at Chinese treatment of Uighurs.

A Chinese restaurant, its owner Turkish and its cook ironically Uighur, was vandalised last week, while a group of Korean tourists was mistakenly attacked in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district, according to the Hurriyet newspaper.

Turkey has vowed to keep its doors open to Uighur migrants fleeing persecution in China, exacerbating a row with Beijing. Around 170 Uighur women and children arrived in Istanbul last week from Thailand, where they had been held for more than a year for illegal entry.

"It is very shocking and disturbing that Thailand caved in to pressure from Beijing," Sunai Phasuk, Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. "In China they can face serious abuses including torture and disappearance."

The UN refugee agency said it was alarmed by Thailand's decision to deport the Uighurs. "We are shocked by this deportation of some 100 people and consider it a flagrant violation of international law," said Volker Turk, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.

Rights groups have long criticised Thailand for its treatment of migrants from Myanmar, including Rohingya Muslims, a mostly stateless group from western Myanmar. Thousands arrive every year in predominantly Buddhist Thailand, brought by smugglers.