Thailand faces international pressure not to deport 48 Uyghurs to China

Thailand is facing increasing international pressure, including from the new US Secretary of State under President Donald Trump, to avoid repatriating a group of Uyghurs to China. Approximately 48 persecuted Uyghurs have been detained by Thai authorities since 2014, when they were arrested along with hundreds of others attempting to cross the Thai border seeking asylum.

United Nations experts, including the Special Rapporteur on Torture, stated in a statement on Wednesday, “We are concerned that they face a risk of irreparable harm.” The statement also noted that “China's treatment of the Uyghur minority is well documented.” The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim Turkic ethnic group whose culture and language are distinct from China's Han Chinese majority.

Since 2017, Chinese authorities have been carrying out a so-called "People's War on Terror" aimed at combating alleged extremism among Uyghurs. It is estimated that at least one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been extrajudicially detained in detention camps, which Beijing claims are vocational training centers. UN human rights experts have stated that 23 of the 48 detainees in Thailand "suffer from serious health problems, including diabetes, renal impairment, paraplegia, skin diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, and cardiopulmonary conditions."

Earlier this month, the detainees released an open letter expressing their concern about their impending repatriation, reportedly timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangkok and Beijing. The letter stated, "We may be imprisoned or even lose our lives. We urgently call on all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to take immediate action to save us from this tragic fate before it is too late.” A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Bangkok stated in a statement that the detained Uyghurs were terrorists, and declared that Western media reports about their situation were "groundless and irresponsible."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was sworn in last Tuesday, stated during his confirmation hearing in the US Senate that he would press Bangkok not to carry out the repatriation. Rubio said this was an opportunity to "remind the world" of the persecution the group faces in China, which he called "one of the most terrible things ever." He stated, "Thailand is a very strong partner of the United States, a long-standing ally. I think diplomacy can really work because that relationship is so important and close."

Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, is one of the leading US critics of Beijing and has long supported the rights of Uyghurs. On his first day as Secretary of State, Rubio met with Foreign Minister Penny Wong, as well as their Japanese and Indian counterparts, as part of the Quad foreign ministers' meeting – a group that China believes is reviving Cold War tensions. Speaking in Washington, Senator Wong said the meeting "demonstrates the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad mechanism, a commitment that is rock solid at a time when close cooperation in this Indo-Pacific region is vital."

Thailand has a history of forcibly returning asylum seekers to their countries of origin, including the repatriation of 100 Uyghurs to China in 2015. It is understood that some of those returned were sentenced to prison upon their return to China, while Uyghur groups say many simply disappeared. According to the UN, five Uyghur detainees, including two children, have died in Thai detention over the past 11 years. "Under pressure from the Chinese government, successive Thai governments have held Uyghurs in inhumane detention while seeking to send them to China," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The current government led by Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra can end this cycle of abuse by immediately releasing the detained Uyghurs and allowing them to travel to safe third countries." The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has contacted the Thai embassy in Canberra for comment on this matter.