Thailand deports 40 Uighurs to China

Thai authorities confirmed the deportation of 40 Uighurs to China on Thursday, February 27, sparking widespread international criticism.

This expulsion ends an 11-year period of detention that had been the subject of international scrutiny and human rights concerns.

"Thai authorities have already handed over 40 Uighurs to Chinese authorities," confirmed General Kittirat Phanpetch, head of the national police.

Despite calls from human rights groups not to do so, the police chief claimed that "Chinese authorities have given written assurances that all deported Uighurs will be safe."

Photo of a Uighur man repatriated to China and reunited with family members, shared by the Chinese Embassy on February 27, 2025.

Those deported included 40 Uighurs who were arrested 11 years ago and held in the custody of the Immigration Bureau throughout that time, as well as eight other Chinese nationals who violated Thai laws.

The February 27 operation was carried out jointly by the Royal Thai Police and the National Security Council, following official communication between the Chinese and Thai governments.

Asked about the secret nature of the transfer using unmarked, fully covered vehicles that were not official police vehicles, General Kittirat explained:

“The entire deportation process employed technical and tactical measures to ensure security, order, and respect for human rights, enabling the Uyghurs to reach their destination safely.

The late hour was chosen to avoid disrupting public traffic and to allow for more effective control.

Responding to concerns about possible violent retaliation similar to the 2015 bombing at the Erawan Shrine at Bangkok's Ratchaprasong intersection, General Kittirat said:

“The Royal Thai Police and security agencies have implemented preventive measures to protect citizens and important places to avoid complacency and prevent similar incidents.

The transfer of the Uighurs took place smoothly, without coercion or resistance.

Police officers supervised each vehicle to ensure it was handled properly.

The police chief also asked for public understanding:

"If we continued to detain them, we would face human rights criticism, but now that we have returned them to China, we are being asked whether proper procedures were followed.

Please understand that the police put the nation's interests first."

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday that "40 illegal Chinese immigrants" had been repatriated, citing a police official who said they had been "deceived by criminal organizations" and stranded in Thailand.

Later Thursday evening, six senior Thai officials and other senior government representatives held a joint press conference at the Ministry of Justice regarding the deportation of the Uighurs.

Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong, Foreign Minister Maris Sa-nguanpong, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Council Sorapong Sriyawanont, Cabinet Spokesperson Chirayu Huangsap, and Immigration Bureau Deputy Commissioner Thanit Thaiwatcharamat jointly discussed the Uyghur deportation case at the Ministry of Justice on February 27, 2025.

They claimed the deportation was in accordance with international protocols and Thai law, adding that those deported had not committed any serious crimes and would receive proper care and employment in China.

They promised to constantly monitor their living conditions, with the Minister of Justice planning a personal inspection within the first week.

Phumtham explained that China had officially requested the return of its citizens.

He noted that ten years ago, Thailand had sent 109 Uighur detainees (women, children and the elderly) to Türkiye.

He said that every year Thailand had tried to find third countries to accept the remaining Uighurs, but over the past decade no third country had agreed to take them in.

The Thai authorities therefore decided that it was preferable to repatriate these detainees, but only under negotiated conditions that guaranteed their well-being.

He said all the people voluntarily agreed to return, although he could not discuss their reasons.

Regarding the night transfer and the limited disclosure of details, he explained that this was to avoid any disruption during the process.

Police Major General Kraiboon Suadsong, Deputy Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police, added that important documents had been translated into the Uyghur language, which helped secure the Uyghurs' voluntary consent to return.

He said hospital examinations revealed no injuries or signs of abuse and that the repatriation went smoothly.

The press conference also shared photographs of the repatriated Uyghurs, which were the same images that the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok posted on Facebook, showing that the 40 ethnic Uyghurs had been repatriated to China and reunited with their families.

International concerns

In this photo provided on condition of anonymity, Uighur detainees who say they are facing deportation to China where they fear persecution lie in an immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, in February 2024. Photo: AP

According to the Associated Press, "Last month, the detained men issued a public appeal to end what they called an imminent threat of deportation, saying they faced imprisonment and death in China.

Several Thai lawmakers have called on the Thai government to suspend any eviction plans.

The Uighur detainees have presented a complex diplomatic challenge for Thailand, caught between China (its largest trading partner) and the United States (its traditional military ally).

"Beijing claims that the Uighurs are jihadists, but has not presented any evidence to support this.

Uighur activists and Western politicians say the men are innocent and have repeatedly expressed concern about their possible deportation, saying they face persecution, imprisonment, and even death in China,” the AP reported.

Discussions about the expulsion reportedly resumed after the Thai prime minister took office last year.

According to AP sources, Thai officials began secretly discussing plans following the prime minister's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing last December.

International pressure mounted after the AP reported on the discussions in January, prompting statements of concern from the UN special rapporteur on torture and various officials from Japan, the United States, and European countries.

Just this week, Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned:

"These men face torture, imprisonment and even death upon return to China," he called the deportation "reckless" and noted that the United States had offered alternative solutions.

Rayhan Asat, a lawyer who had asked the UN to block the deportation, warned:

"If the deportation goes ahead, Thailand will effectively be issuing death sentences, thereby aiding and abetting the Chinese government in committing atrocities."

Prison and torture or return to a free life?

A photo of Uighurs repatriated to China being welcomed by their family members, shared by the Chinese Embassy on February 27, 2025.

Several questions arise, such as whether these Uighurs simply fled the crackdown on Uighur groups converting to radical Islam in China or whether they were deceived by criminal organizations into joining terrorist networks, as Chinese media have claimed.

It should be noted that Turkey had agreed to receive Uighur women, children and elderly people from Thailand, but refused to receive these men "possibly linked to Islamist terrorist networks."

If they have no connection to Islamist networks, they should return to a normal life with their loved ones, rather than languishing in Thailand's terrible prisons.

According to the Cairn-Info , China has been facing a radical fringe of Islamist separatists within the Uighur community on its territory for several years.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnic group who largely inhabit Xinjiang province in northwest China.

The separatists' goal is to establish an Islamic state in East Turkestan in place of present-day Xinjiang.

In 2013-2014, terrorist attacks increased significantly in China, no longer confined to the province of Xinjiang, but also affecting major cities such as Beijing (October 2013), Kunming (March 2014) and Canton (March 2014, April 2015), and with more sophisticated methods of operation.

China has also been the target of international terrorist organizations, and numerous attacks directly targeting Chinese interests abroad have been carried out in recent years.

In August 2015, a bomb attack targeted the Erawan Temple in Bangkok, Thailand, killing twenty people, including five Chinese.

In August 2016, a suicide car bomb attack targeted the Chinese embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, injuring three local employees.

In both cases, the identified perpetrators turned out to be Chinese nationals from the Uighur minority.

However, after Beijing implemented draconian legislative and security measures, the number of these attacks has fallen since 2015.

Due to China's repressive policies against the Uyghurs, a silent exodus has taken place towards Southeast Asia.

Most of these Uighurs were trying to flee China to reach Turkey, while others willingly or unwittingly joined jihadist training camps in Pakistan, Indonesia or directly in Syria.

Several thousand Uighur fighters were based in northwest Syria, fighting alongside al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, Hayat Tahir al Sham, which has since seized power.

Today, Uighur "Islamo-nationalist" militants are present and connected to other networks in Central and Southeast Asia, on the Pakistani-Afghan border, as well as in Turkey and Syria.

Source: Khaosod English