At least 40 Uyghurs have been deported to China by Thai authorities, despite concerns from rights groups that they may face torture and possibly death. The group was flown back to China’s Xinjiang region on Thursday, after being held for 10 years in a Bangkok detention center.
China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and genocide against the Uyghur population and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Beijing denies these allegations.
This is the first time Thailand has deported Uyghurs since 2015. The deportation has been shrouded in secrecy due to concerns raised by the United States and the United Nations. Thai media reported trucks leaving Bangkok’s main immigration detention center early Thursday morning, while an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight later left Bangkok and arrived in Xinjiang.
The Thai defense minister stated that Beijing assured the deportees would be looked after, but refused to confirm that they were Uyghurs. Chinese state media claimed the group had been “bewitched” by criminal organizations and were stranded in Thailand after leaving the country illegally.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not initially confirm the deportations when asked by reporters, emphasizing that actions must adhere to the principles of law, international processes, and human rights. The group is believed to be the last of more than 300 Uyghurs detained at the Thai border in 2014.
Human Rights Watch stated that the group now face a high risk of torture, enforced disappearance, and long-term imprisonment. The organization criticized Thailand’s transfer of Uyghur detainees to China as a violation of its obligations under domestic and international laws. The UN also expressed deep regret over the deportations.
There are approximately 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang. They speak their own language similar to Turkish and have a cultural and ethnic closeness to Central Asian nations. Recent decades have seen a mass migration of Han Chinese to Xinjiang, allegedly orchestrated by the state to dilute the minority population. China has also been accused of targeting Muslim religious figures and banning religious practices in the region.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14jjxz8re6o
