BANGKOK – Thailand deported 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China on Thursday, despite rights advocates and U.S. officials warning that they could face torture and imprisonment if they are returned, activists and Thai officials said.
After fleeing China for protection in Thailand, it was detained for more than a decade in a group of more than 300 people arrested in 2014.
The Chinese government has denied allegations that it had committed mass abuse of abuse against Ugles, a Muslim ethnic group who lives primarily in the western part of the West Jiang.
Thai National Police Chief Kitrat Phanphet told reporters that 40 people have been deported and Chinese officials “expressed their sincerity and intention to take care of this Chinese-Chinese Uyghurs.”
China’s Ministry of Public Safety said 40 Chinese nationals who entered Thailand illegally had been deported without saying whether they were Uyghurs.
The Chinese government said the deportation was carried out in accordance with Chinese and Thai laws, adding that the legal rights of the individuals involved were fully protected.
Rights groups and Thai lawmakers condemned the Thai government’s move, which had earlier no plans to expel the Yurigels.
“What is the Thai government doing?” Kannavee Suebsang, an opposition MP in Thailand, said in an article on X: “We violated their human rights far from being achieved. There must be a better solution,” he added.
Elaine Pearson, director of Asian Human Rights Watch, said Thailand’s deportation was “a blatant violation of Thai obligations under domestic and international laws.”
“These people are now at high risk of torture, enforced disappearances and long-term imprisonment,” she said in a statement.
“His country ruled by law has a comprehensive legal framework and mechanisms to protect human rights,” Lin Jian, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in response to comments from the rights group.
“All ethnic groups in China, including the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, enjoy full economic, social, cultural and civil rights,” Lin said in a Beijing briefing.
He added: “China firmly opposes interference in internal affairs under the pretext of human rights and uses the Xinjiang issue to refuse to interfere with normal law enforcement cooperation among countries.”
Photos posted in Thai media, photos taken earlier Thursday showed trucks covered their windows with black tape leaving the immigration center in the country’s capital Bangkok, where 48 Uyghurs were detained.
An unplanned China Southern Airlines left Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok at 4:48 am local time (4:48 PM ET) and landed in Kashgar, Xinjiang six hours later, according to Tracker Flightradar24.
Thai state media reported that the day before the deportation, Thai Prime Minister Paeton sings with reporters the day before the deportation.
“For any country, such issues must be followed by laws, international procedures and human rights,” Reuters said.
Thailand was previously criticized in 2015 when it expelled more than 100 members of the original Uyghur group to China. Much of the other part of the group was sent to Türkiye, while 53 people remained in Thailand.
According to UN human rights experts, 53 of the 53 deaths, including two children. They said almost half of the remaining 48 Uyghurs suffer from severe health conditions, including diabetes, kidney dysfunction, and heart and lung conditions.
The status of eight Uyghur detainees who appeared not to be deported to China on Thursday is unclear.
Rights activists criticized the situation of the Wiggles in Thailand, saying they were denied access to family members, lawyers and international organizations. UN experts said in a letter to the Thai government last year that its treatment of Uyghur detainees may violate international law.
Amid concerns that they will be expelled from the country, the United Nations urged Thailand not to repatriate Uyghur detainees, saying last month that if they were returned they “were at risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or depraved treatment or punishment”.
Rights groups say Ugels in China face discrimination and their cultural identity. The U.S. and other Western governments say Beijing’s policies on Urgur, including forcing the detention of one million or more people, is equivalent to genocide.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a long-time critic of China’s human rights record, said at a confirmation hearing last month that he would lobby Bangkok not to expel Ugel detainees, citing strong U.S.-Thailand relations.
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Monday that the U.S. “puts actual choices on the dining table” to protect the human rights of Uyghur detainees.
“We urge Thai leaders to interact with the United States on these suggestions rather than taking this unwise step,” they said in a statement.
Nat Sumon reported on Bangkok, and Jennifer Jett reported on Hong Kong.
