China defends Thailand's repatriation of illegal immigrants

A screen grab from state broadcaster CCTV shows that illegal immigrants were repatriated from Thailand to China on Thursday.

Several recruitment gangs were uncovered in Turkey by a Chinese police investigation, which also discovered that Turkish diplomats in some Southeast Asian countries had facilitated the illegal movement of people, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Staffs from a Turkish embassy of some Southeast Asian countries have participate in "rescuing" a Chinese head of a smuggling gang who was seized by local law-enforcing department in September, 2014, and the man is now at large in Turkey.

Of the 109 individuals returned to China last week, 13 had fled China after being implicated in terrorist activities, and another two had escaped detention, said a ministry statement.

According to their accounts, many had been radicalized by materials released by the World Uygur Congress and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

The recruitment gangs had used religious extremism to encourage people to go to Syria and Iraq to participate in jihad.