Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
At least 40 Uigures have been deported to China, Thai authorities have confirmed, despite the warnings of the rights groups that face possible torture and even death.
It is believed that the group was transferred back to the Xinjiang region of China on Thursday, after being held for 10 years in a Bangkok detention center.
China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Uigur population and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the northwest region of Xinjiang. Beijing denies all accusations.
It is the first time that Thailand deported Uyghurs since 2015.
Deportation has been secretly involved after the United States and the United Nations raised serious concerns.
Thai Media reported that several trucks, some with windows blocked with black plastic sheets, left the main Bangkok immigration detention center in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Hours later, the FlightRader24 tracker showed an unchanging flight from China Southern Airlines that leaves Bangkok, finally arriving at Xinjiang. It was not clear immediately how many people had been deported.
Thai defense minister told the Reuters news agency that Beijing had given guarantees that the deportees would be attended.
Beijing said that 40 Chinese immigrants were repatriated from Thailand, but they refused to confirm that the group was same.
“The repatriation was carried out in accordance with the laws of China and Thailand, International Law and International Practice,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese state media said the group had been “bewitched” by criminal organizations and that they were stranded in Thailand after illegally abandoning the country.
Thailand’s prime minister Paetongtran Shinawatra did not initially confirm that deportations had taken place when journalists asked them.
“In any country in the world, actions must adhere to the principles of law, international processes and human rights,” he said.
It is believed that the group is the last of more than 300 uigures that were arrested at the Thai border in 2014 after fleeing repression in Xinjiang.
Many were sent to Türkiye, which generally offer asylum of the Uigures, while others were Deported back to China In 2015, causing a protest storm of governments and human rights groups.
“What is the Thai government doing?” Asked the opposition legislator Kannavee Suebsang on social networks on Thursday.
“There should be no Uigur deportation to face the persecution. They were imprisoned for 11 years. We violated their human rights for too long.”
It was known that the detention center where the Uigures, who had been accused of non -crime, apart from entering Thailand without a visa, knew they were unhealthy and overcrowded. Five Uigures died in custody.
In a statement on Thursday, Human Rights Watch said the group now faces a high risk of torture, forced disappearance and long -term prison.
“The transfer of the detainees of Uyghur from Thailand to China constitutes a shameless violation of Thailand’s obligations under national and international laws,” said Asia’s director of the organization, Elaine Pearson.
“Until yesterday (Wednesday), senior Thai officials had made multiple public guarantees that these men would not be transferred, even to allies and UN officials.”
Phil Robertson, director of the Group of Human Rights and Labor of Asia (AHRLA), said that deportations “totally destroyed” the “farce” that the current Thai government was different from the previous one “when it comes to transnational repression and cooperation with authoritarian neighbors.”
Amnesty International described deportations as “unimaginably cruel.”
The bipartisan members of the Committee of the Chamber of Representatives of the United States issued on Wednesday a statement that warns that deportations “would constitute a clear violation of the International Human Rights Standards to which the Kingdom of Thailand is bound by international law.”
The UN said that “deeply regrets” deportations.
There are about 12 million Uigures, mostly Muslims, who live in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the autonomous region of Xinjiang Uyghur (Xuar).
The Uigures speak their own language, which is similar to the Turk, and they see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to the nations of Central Asia. They represent less than half of the population of Xinjiang.
The last decades have seen a massive migration of Chinese have (ethnic majority of China) in Xinjiang, supposedly orchestrated by the State to dilute the minority population there.
China has also been accused of aimed at Muslim religious figures and prohibit religious practices in the region, as well as destroy mosques and tombs.
