On Thursday, Thailand’s premier stated that international standards and human rights principles must be upheld. This comment came in response to activists’ concerns about the potential secret deportation of 48 Uyghurs who have been held in the country for over a decade.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not confirm whether an extradition had occurred when asked about the Uyghurs’ status. She mentioned that she had yet to discuss the matter with officials.
“This sort of issue, for any country, one has to follow the law, international process and human rights,” Paetongtarn told reporters, without providing further details.
Last month, United Nations human rights experts urged Thailand not to send the 48 Uyghurs back to China. They warned that the individuals could face torture, ill-treatment, and “irreparable harm” if returned.
On Thursday morning, several trucks with black-taped windows were seen leaving the Bangkok immigration center where the 48 Uyghurs have been detained. Local media outlets published images of the trucks.
A few hours later, at 4:48 a.m. (2148 Wednesday), an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight departed from Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport. It landed in Kashgar, located in China’s Xinjiang region, approximately six hours later, according to Flightradar24.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses against Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority of around 10 million people in the Xinjiang region. However, Beijing denies any allegations of abuse.
On Thursday, Thailand’s immigration police, China’s foreign ministry, and the Chinese embassy in Bangkok did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The Cross Cultural Foundation, a Thai human rights group, announced plans to file a petition with a court on Thursday. This petition aims to request an immediate inquiry that could compel officials to testify about the status of the Uyghurs and present the detainees.
The 48 detainees are part of a larger group of 300 Uyghurs who fled China and were arrested in Thailand in 2014. Some of them were sent back to China, while others were deported to Turkey. The remaining individuals have stayed in Thai custody.
Recently, Thailand’s government stated that there was no immediate plan to deport the Uyghurs, although it did not rule out their return.
Political leaders in Thailand want to deport the Uyghurs to China, despite warnings from agencies that such actions pose a security risk and violate human rights principles. A Thai security official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue, provided this information.
Some diplomats and security analysts believe that Thailand’s deportation of 100 Uyghurs to China in July 2015 led to a bombing a month later at a busy Bangkok shrine. This attack resulted in the deaths of 20 people and marked the worst incident of its kind on Thai soil.
Thailand faced widespread condemnation for the deportation of the 100 Uyghurs, with international concerns that they could be tortured. The fate of these individuals remains unknown.
At that time, Thai authorities concluded that the bombing was linked to their crackdown on a human trafficking ring, but they did not specifically connect the attack to the Uyghurs.
Two ethnic Uyghur men were arrested and charged with murder and illegal possession of explosives, and their trial has faced multiple delays.
Click here for more World news.