Munich [Germany], October 30 (ANI): The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has raised alarm over the imminent deportation of two Uyghur men from Thailand to China after they were granted royal pardons and transferred from regular detention to an immigration detention facility on October 21, warning that their return could expose them to torture and enforced disappearance.
According to a press release issued by the WUC, the two men are among five Uyghurs who remain in detention in Thailand from a larger group of approximately 300 Uyghurs who fled persecution in China and were detained near the Thai-Malaysian border in March 2014.
The organisation said that in 2015, Thai authorities deported 100 Uyghurs from the group to China. Those who remained were held for years in immigration detention centres under what the WUC described as de facto incommunicado detention. They were allegedly denied access to legal representation and non-governmental organisations, received inadequate medical care and nutrition, and had limited opportunities for physical exercise. Five members of the group died while in detention.
The WUC further stated that in 2025, another 40 Uyghurs were deported to China despite widespread political and public opposition. According to the organisation, their families have been unable to establish contact with any of those deported, and neither Chinese nor Thai authorities have provided proof of life, even one year after their deportation.
The organisation described the situation as enforced disappearance, alleging that the deported Uyghurs had effectively disappeared after being returned to China.
Warning against the deportation of the remaining detainees, the WUC said Thailand would violate its international legal obligations if it returned the two men to a country where they could face serious risks of torture and enforced disappearance.
The press release also highlighted the broader human rights situation in China, stating that since 2016, Uyghurs have faced mass incarceration, forced labour, torture in detention, forced sterilisation and family separation, affecting millions of people.
“Thailand must not deport these Uyghur refugees to China, as doing so risks making it complicit in the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs,” WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun said.
He added that all countries had a responsibility to uphold international law and firmly reject the repression of Uyghurs, both within China and beyond its borders.
The WUC also referred to Thailand’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).
According to the organisation, these international treaties impose obligations relevant to the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to countries where they face a risk of torture, other prohibited ill-treatment or enforced disappearance.
The WUC called on Thailand to refrain from deporting the two Uyghur men and the remaining group of five detainees to China. It also urged third-country governments to offer resettlement opportunities to all five Uyghurs currently held in regular and immigration detention.
Additionally, the organisation appealed to the European Union, the United Nations and governments of third countries to mobilise international pressure on Thailand to ensure that no Uyghur detainee is deported to China. (ANI)
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