BANGKOK — Thai police said Tuesday that they were stepping up security along the country’s borders as they searched for about 20 suspected ethnic Uighurs who escaped an immigration detention center.
Thai media published surveillance camera footage of the Monday escape in which the group climbed out of the detention center using two holes they apparently made in a wall. They apparently used blankets to lower themselves down before running toward the detention center’s exit.
Cherngron Rimpadee, an immigration police deputy spokesman, said police were patrolling the border between Thailand and Malaysia. Security in Malaysia was also tightened as the detention center was close to the border.