UHRP Calls on Thailand to Immediately Halt Deportation of 48 Uyghurs, Uphold International Law

For immediate release
February 26, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. EST
Contact: Omer Kanat (202) 790-1795, Peter Irwin (646) 906-7722

The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) urges the Thai government to immediately halt any plans to deport 48 Uyghur men who have been held in prolonged arbitrary detention for over a decade. The men will face a grave risk of torture, enforced disappearance, and other severe human rights violations if returned to China.

“The Thai government must uphold its international human rights obligations and provide these men with the protection they urgently need,” said Omer Kanat, UHRP Executive Director. “Forcibly returning Uyghurs to China would make Thailand complicit in China’s crimes against humanity.”

Thai Member of Parliament from the People’s Party, Romadon Panjor, posted a video on X showing a large detention vehicle entering the prison compound, Suan Phlu, around 8:00 p.m. local time today, February 26, for a possible transfer to the airport nearby.

Thai Member of Parliament from the Fair Party, Kannavee Suebsang, issued a statement this week urging the Thai government not to deport the group.

This follows a statement from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) on February 4, which “reaffirmed its commitment to uphold human rights principles […] particularly the non-refoulement principle of not returning a person to danger.” In October 2023, following the death of two Uyghur men in detention in February and April of that year, the NHRCT called on the government to develop a timeframe to send the Uyghur detainees “out of Thailand to a third country.”

In January, UN human rights experts urged Thailand to “immediately halt the possible transfer” of the group to China, and for the Thai government to provide them with “access to asylum procedures and other humanitarian assistance.”

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a statement on February 24, urging Thai leaders to “engage with the United States” to resettle the 48 men. This followed a January 22 statement from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, which called on Thailand to provide “access to asylum procedures, and necessary medical care.”

UHRP calls on the Thai authorities to release the detained Uyghurs and facilitate their safe resettlement in a third country where their rights and dignity will be protected. The international community must also press Thailand to ensure it does not repeat the tragic 2015 forced deportation of Uyghurs, which led to documented cases of imprisonment and persecution in China.

UHRP Welcomes UN Letter on Arbitrary Detention Cases in Thailand, Urges Immediate Resettlement, April 24, 2024

WUC and UHRP Grieved by Death of Uyghur Refugee in Detention Center in Thailand, April 24, 2024

52 Uyghur Groups Call for an End to Prolonged Detention of Uyghurs in Thailand, July 8, 2022

UHRP: World Refugee Day 2019: Thailand should free Uyghur refugees, June 20, 2019

UHRP: World Refugee Day 2016: Resettle Uyghurs Refugees in Thailand to Safe Third Country, June 20, 2016

Uyghur American Association urges UNHCR and the United States to work closely with Thai government on resettlement of Uyghur refugees, November 19, 2014