Thailand Deports Dozens of Uyghurs to China, Activists Say

Thailand on Thursday sent back 40 “illegal immigrants” to China, Chinese state media reported, hours after rights groups warned that Thailand was on the verge of repatriating dozens of Uyghur men who had fled persecution in China.

The Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in China, possibly face torture and long-term imprisonment upon return to that country, rights groups have said. They were part of a wave of more than 300 Uyghur asylum seekers who fled China in 2014.

They had hoped to use Thailand as a transit point to get to Turkey, which is home to a sizable Uyghur community. But more than 40 of them ended up being detained in Bangkok for more than a decade. Last month, some of the men went on a hunger strike amid fears of being returned to China.

At around 2 a.m. on Thursday, a reporter witnessed six trucks that had their windows covered with black cloth leaving an immigrant detention center in downtown Bangkok where the detained Uyghurs had been held. Several police cars accompanied the trucks, cordoning off traffic around them.

At around 5 a.m., an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight took off from Bangkok to Kashgar in Xinjiang, the native homeland of Uyghurs, according to FlightRadar24, which tracks flights around the world. It landed just after 12 p.m. local time.

“All signs point to at least 40 of the men having been deported,” said Julie Millsap of No Business With Genocide, a Washington-based group that has been lobbying governments to free the Uyghurs.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch criticized the Thai authorities for having deported the men despite making public assurances earlier that they would not do so.

“Thailand’s transfer of Uyghur detainees to China constitutes a blatant violation of Thailand’s obligations under domestic and international laws,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The men now face a high risk of torture, enforced disappearance, and long-term imprisonment in China.”

The Thai police and foreign ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The Chinese report, published by the official Xinhua news agency, appeared to be deliberately vague about the deportees, providing no details about their identities or where in China they were from. It said “the repatriation was carried out in accordance with the laws of China and Thailand, international law and international practice.”

Pirada Anuwech contributed reporting from Bangkok.