Law & Justice

Thai Authorities Threaten Deportation of Two Uyghurs, Raising Human Rights Concerns

By Amy Hawkins

Two Uyghur men in Thailand are at risk of being deported to China, a move that activists say could endanger their lives. The men, who are serving seven‑year prison sentences for attempting to escape immigration detention in January 2020, were recently transferred to an immigration detention centre and fear that Thai authorities may again comply with Beijing’s demands.

The men are part of a group of more than 200 Uyghur men, women and children who were apprehended by Thai police in 2014 near the Malaysia border after fleeing China. Since then, women and children in the group have been released to Turkey, while the men have been deported to China in separate batches. The United Nations and the United States have criticized the practice, and the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has called it a potential crime against humanity.

One of the men, whose name is withheld for security reasons, told the Guardian that he would be “like a slave” if sent back to China. He wrote a letter to his girlfriend, Marzeyya Kasem, expressing his fear of returning. Kasem shared the letter with a Thai rights group.

Human Rights Watch Asia director Elaine Pearson has urged that the men be allowed to travel to a safe third country. She cited previous Thai governments’ inhumane detention of Uyghurs and their compliance with Beijing’s demands to send them to China, where many were forcibly disappeared.

Thai officials have said that the men, along with three other Uyghurs still in prison, have outstanding arrest warrants in China. It is unclear whether China has issued a formal extradition request for the two men. Some relatives of Uyghurs have said the Chinese government is “paranoid about Uyghurs going to a safe country in large numbers and living together” and prefers to have them deported.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign affairs ministry said that cooperation between China and Thailand in combating cross‑border illegal and criminal activities such as smuggling is consistent with the laws of the two countries, international law and international practice. A spokesperson for Thailand’s foreign affairs ministry declined to comment.

The two men reportedly pleaded their case to Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday. Their fate remains uncertain as Thai authorities weigh the legal basis for deportation against international criticism and the potential risk to the men’s safety in China.