A vehicle with a load of unidentified passengers leaves the detention centre in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb. 27.Nuttaphol Meksobhon/The Associated Press
Dozens of Uyghur asylum seekers have been deported from Thailand to China, Bangkok confirmed Thursday, despite warnings from human rights groups and the United Nations that they faced risk of torture and ill-treatment.
Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the 40 men, some of whom have been in the country for more than a decade, had been sent to China after Thailand received assurances they would be looked after there.
At a regular news conference in Beijing Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian would not comment on the fate of the Uyghurs, only criticizing those who are “spreading lies” about their home region of Xinjiang.
In a statement, Phil Robertson, director of the Bangkok-based Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates group, said Thailand “has finally done the unthinkable.”
He said the Uyghur asylum seekers – who fled Xinjiang during a brutal crackdown by the Chinese authorities characterized by some observers, including the Canadian Parliament, as a genocide – would “face torture in custody, long prison terms and likely death,” as a result of their return to China.
“What’s also clear is Thai officials involved in this forced return, using blacked out trucks and a barrage of lying denials, have the blood of these Uyghur men on their hands,” Mr. Robertson said.
His comments were echoed by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, both of which criticized Thailand for violating international law by returning the men to China despite realistic concerns about their treatment.
While Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it is bound by the principle of non-refoulement under the UN Convention Against Torture and similar protections under Thai domestic law. Despite this, however, Bangkok has been accused of routinely deporting asylum seekers – some of whom have been recognized by the UN – to their home countries regardless of concerns about their potential treatment.
“Until yesterday, senior Thai officials had made multiple public assurances that these men would not be transferred, including to allies and UN officials,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s actions undermine Thailand’s credibility on the international stage and as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.”
Early on Thursday, several trucks with windows covered in black tape were seen leaving the Bangkok immigration centre where the Uyghurs had been held. A few hours later, at 4:48 a.m., an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight left the Don Mueang airport in the Thai capital to land six hours later in Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region, tracker Flightradar24 showed.
Speaking to reporters as news of the Uyghurs’ deportation was still breaking, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said countries had “to follow the law, international process and human rights,” without elaborating.
Rangsiman Rome, a member of the opposition People’s Party and chair of the Thai parliament’s committee on national security, wrote on social media that the deportations were a “violation of the law” and would have a “significant impact” on Thailand’s international standing, raising questions about the country’s commitment to human rights.
Mr. Rangsiman noted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously expressed concern for the Uyghurs, warning the move could harm Bangkok’s relations with Washington.
In his confirmation hearing last month, Mr. Rubio said he would lobby Thailand not to deport the Uyghurs.
“The good news is that Thailand is actually a very strong U.S. partner – strong historical ally as well – so that is an area where I think diplomacy could really achieve results because of how important that relationship is and how close it is," he said, adding the situation was “one more opportunity for us to remind the world” about the persecution of the Uyghur minority in China.
“This is not some obscure issue,” Mr. Rubio told the committee. “These are people who are basically being rounded up because of their ethnicity and religion and they are being put into camps.”
With files from Reuters