BANGKOK - A human rights group has urged Thailand not to deport to China 48 Uyghurs who have languished for more than a decade in detention, saying their safety and human rights must be the priority.
The Uyghur men have been held at Thailand’s Immigration Detention Center since 2014, after attempting to escape persecution in China through Thailand.
The rights group Justice for All said recent reports from the detained Uyghurs indicated that Thai authorities were coercing them to fill out forms in preparation for their deportation.
“This decision would endanger these individuals’ lives and contravenes international human rights standards,” the group said.
An Immigration Bureau spokesperson said no decision had been made regarding the Uyghurs, members of the mostly Muslim minority who fled from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 2014.
“The matter is still under consideration, and no deportations have taken place. Once we reach a conclusion, we will hold a press conference,”
Police Col. Kathatorn Kaomteang, deputy commander of Immigration Division 3, told Radio Free Asia affiliate BenarNews
In 2015, Thailand forcibly returned nearly 100 Uyghurs to China despite rights groups' fears they would face ill-treatment.
The United States condemned the 2015 deportations and asked Thailand to stop them, while the U.N. refugee agency said it was alarmed and shocked by what it considered a “flagrant violation of international law.”
At the time, the prime minister of Thailand’s military government, which was seeking to bolster ties with China following Western criticism of a 2014 coup, brushed off the criticism saying it was not Thailand’s fault if those sent back suffered problems.
“History must not repeat itself,” said the president of Justice For All, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid.
He said the 48 asylum seekers detained in Thailand had to be protected under the non-refoulement principle, which prohibits returning individuals to places where they are at risk of serious human rights violations.
“Their safety and rights must be prioritized,” Mujahid said.
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‘Threats’
Justice for All said while the paperwork, which included the taking of photographs, had initially been presented as voluntary, “pressure was increased on January 9, resulting in detainees engaging in a hunger strike.”
“Verbal threats of deportation back to China by officials in the immigration center have increased, despite their asylum applications being accepted by the United Nations,” the group said, citing detainees.
“This development greatly heightens the urgency and distress of the situation,” it said.
The 48 were among more than 500 Uyghurs who fled to Southeast Asian countries in 2013 and 2014, according to Thai officials and aid groups trying to help them. They hoped to be resettled in Turkey, where some of them eventually traveled.
The Uyghur people, who live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, are a Muslim minority who have endured persecution and repression by the Chinese government, cases of which have been well documented by human rights groups.
China denies restricting Uyghurs' religious freedoms and blames Islamist militants for violent attacks in the Xinjiang region.
A spokesman for Thailand’s civilian government said deportations were normally handled by the Immigration Bureau and the police but the government would inquire about the case.
“We need to first consult with the national police chief about the case of these Uyghur civilians who are to be returned – why they are being returned, what kind of negotiations took place, and whether there are any extradition agreements,“ the spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, Jirayu Huangsap, told BenarNews.
“We need to inquire about these details first.”
Edited by Mike Firn
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.