A group of Uyghur men who have been detained in Thailand for more than a decade allege that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, where they would be at risk of abuse and torture, say activists.
Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit, a former head of the National Human Rights Commission, on Saturday called on Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to clarify whether the government has such a plan.
The Associated Press news agency said it had obtained a letter in which 43 Uyghur men held at the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation.
“We could be imprisoned, and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organisations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from this tragic fate before it is too late.”
A decade ago, Thailand became part of a popular route for Uyghurs fleeing intensifying repression in China and seeking to reach Turkey, which has historically supported Uyghur asylum seekers. Most of the group detained in Bangkok were part of a larger group of around 350 who were arrested by immigration authorities near the border with Malaysia in March 2014.
In July 2015, around 170 women and children from the group were released to Turkey. About a week later, 109 — mostly men — were deported to China. Their whereabouts now are unknown. The rest were kept in immigration detention in Thailand. At least a dozen have escaped, and five have died in detention, including two children.
Five of the asylum seekers are serving prison sentences related to a 2020 escape attempt, while the remaining 43 are being held without charge in the Suan Phlu detention centre, amid sweltering, foul-smelling, cramped conditions. They are barred from communicating with their families, lawyers, or even other detainees.
Thai authorities have no plans to release the Uyghurs, according to a 2023 report by the National Human Rights Commission. Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
Under Thai law, the Uyghurs’ detention is categorised as a national security matter. This places them under the purview of the National Security Council (NSC), rather than immigration authorities. It also bars them from accessing the country’s National Screening Mechanism, designed to allow refugees to live in the country and access public services.
Immigration police have said they have been trying to take care of the detainees as best as they could.
‘Voluntary’ deportation papers
Recordings and chat records obtained exclusively by The Associated Press show that on Jan 8, the Uyghur detainees were asked to sign voluntary deportation papers by Thai immigration officials.
The move panicked detainees, as similar documents were presented to the Uyghurs deported to China in 2015. The detainees refused to sign.
Three people, including a Thai MP and two others in touch with Thai authorities, told the AP that there had been recent discussions within the government about deporting the Uyghurs to China, though they had not yet seen or heard of any formal directive to do so.
Two of the people said the Thai officials pushing for the deportations are choosing to do so now because this year is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and China. As well, there is a perception that backlash from Washington will be muted once the new administration headed by Donald Trump takes over later this month.
The Thai and Chinese foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests from the AP for comment.
Beijing says the Uyghurs are jihadists, but has not presented evidence. Uyghur activists and rights groups say the men are innocent and expressed alarm over their possible deportation, saying they face persecution, imprisonment and possible death back in China.
Two people with direct knowledge of the matter told the AP that all of the Uyghurs detained in Thailand submitted asylum applications to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which the AP verified.
The UN agency acknowledged receipt of the applications but has been barred from visiting the Uyghurs by the Thai government to this day, the people said.
However, a report by a non-governmental organisation in May last year said that the UN agency rebuffed unofficial requests from the Thai government to help the 48 Uyghur detainees, partly out of concern about angering China.
The UNHCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.