Thailand has confirmed the secretive deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China, despite warnings from the United Nations and human rights organizations about potential risks of torture and ill-treatment.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai stated that the transfer was carried out according to Thai law and international principles. He added that the detainees were undergoing health checks upon arrival and had been received by their relatives.
The Thai government stated that the Immigration Bureau followed legal procedures and confirmed that those deported had cooperated and voluntarily agreed to their return.
Authorities used official documents translated into the Uyghur language to explain the details of the deportation process. Additionally, pre-departure medical examinations found no signs of injury or mistreatment among the individuals.
The deportation took place pre-dawn on Thursday, with images showing covered trucks leaving a Bangkok immigration center. Flight tracking data indicated an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight departed from Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 4:48 a.m., arriving six hours later in Kashgar, Xinjiang.
This is the second major deportation of Uyghurs from Thailand in a decade. In 2015, Thailand sent 100 Uyghurs back to China, a move widely condemned and suspected to have contributed to the deadly bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine. Two ethnic Uyghur men were arrested in connection with the attack, though Thai authorities have not officially linked it to the deportations.
Human rights groups criticized the latest deportation as a violation of Thailand’s obligations under international law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending individuals back to places where they could face persecution. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) had repeatedly sought assurances that the Uyghurs would not be returned but was denied access to the group.
China’s foreign ministry defended the deportation, claiming it aligned with both countries’ laws and was part of efforts to combat cross-border crimes. However, Chinese officials did not directly acknowledge that the deported individuals were Uyghurs.
The fate of the remaining eight Uyghurs still in Thai custody remains uncertain, while Thai rights groups are pushing for an inquiry into the latest deportation.
