Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsaeng uploaded photos of detention trucks with blackened windows leaving the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center. Source: Prachatai, content partner of Global Voices. Fair use.
The Thai government has sent 40 Uyghurs back to China despite warnings from human rights advocates that the deportees and their families could face prolonged arbitrary detention, torture, and even death.
The 40 Uyghurs had been held in Thailand for over a decade after illegally entering the country. These individuals fled Xinjiang in 2014 and tried to seek asylum when they were arrested in Thailand.
Uyghurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims in China’s northwest region, which includes Xinjiang. Since 2016, the United Nations and global human rights groups have sounded alarm over the serious human rights abuses against the Uyghurs after China imposed a mass crackdown in the region and established “re-education camps” reportedly aimed at suppressing Uyghur culture and identity.
The Uyghurs detained by Thailand went on hunger strike in January to protest the plan to bring them back to China. They ended the protest after 18 days when Thai authorities assured them and the public that they would remain in the country.
But on February 27, they were secretly transported from the immigration detention facility and flown out of the country. The Chinese news site Xinhua reported that “40 Chinese nationals involved in illegal immigration repatriated from Thailand in joint crackdown on cross-border crime.” There was no mention that the deportees were refugees who fled China to escape persecution.
The Thai prime minister, who was in China in February for a state visit, claimed that the Uyghurs “voluntarily” left the country and that Chinese officials have made sufficient “guarantees” regarding the safety of the deportees. Her defense secretary added that the Thai government “acted in good faith and wanted to avoid diplomatic fallout” since no other country wanted to accept the refugees.
But Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsaeng released letters from some of the deported Uyghurs and their families who were appealing against their forced return to China. The legislator also reminded authorities that Turkey has once signified its willingness to accept the Uyghur refugees.
Related to this, a Uyghur mother uploaded the following video in January pleading for the release of her son and other detained refugees in Thailand (starting at 5:37).
News of the sudden deportation of the 40 Uyghurs was quickly condemned by the UN, human rights groups, and some governments. This post by the civil society group Freedom House summed up the reaction of human rights groups.
Yesterday's decision by the Thai government to deport 40 Uyghur men back to China is a complete abandonment of the country's human rights obligations and an egregious example of #transnationalrepression.
As weeks of international outrage have emphasized, nothing awaits these men… https://t.co/1FVvz65cqE
— Freedom House (@freedomhouse) February 27, 2025
Phil Robertson of the Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates said that Thailand should give up its seat at the UN Human Rights Council due to its unethical actions.
This massive human rights violation blows apart any pretense the Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her Thai government has made to be a rights respecting member of the UN Human Rights Council. The Thai government should resign its seat on the Council to show responsibility for its outrageous and unacceptable action.
This cartoon by stephff, a prominent cartoonist based in Bangkok, depicts the geopolitical interests surrounding the issue:
Please don't send them back to China where they face harsh persecution ! @PravitR @LiaSciortino @Reaproy @Piyabutr_FWP @CartooningPeace @pedroletti pic.twitter.com/jvvGiT80LJ
— stephff cartoonist (@stephffart) February 27, 2025
In response, the Chinese embassy in Thailand insisted that Western institutions have no right to intervene in the matter. To dispel speculation about the safety of the deportees, it released photos showing the family reunions after the 40 Uyghurs arrived in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar. It also emphasized that Thai officials can always visit the 40 Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
The Thai government sent representatives to witness the situation on-site. In the future, China will continue to welcome the Thai government’s delegation to visit and understand the subsequent living conditions of the deported individuals. For those in Thailand who are concerned about the situation in China's Xinjiang region, we encourage them to visit Xinjiang and experience firsthand the region's development, changes, and the happy lives of its people.
The Chinese Embassy on Fri night released pics of some of the 40 #Uyghurs who were deported back to #China from #Thailand & said they have been released to “lead a normal life” & the Chinese gov't is ready to welcome Thai officials to check on them in the future. #ChinainThailand pic.twitter.com/V9m5Z3L7Hd
— Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish) March 1, 2025
However, veteran journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk noted that the sudden deportation was a “PR disaster for Thailand” and that the secrecy surrounding the operation was suspicious.
These people were transported out of the Thai immigration detention centre, inside six vans, with all windows covered with black tapes and police signs concealed, at 2am, with no other vehicles allowed to follow. This was not a normal way of transporting people to the airport to fly back to China to lead a normal life.
