Detainees fear their return could be imminent despite UN experts urging Bangkok to halt the possible transfer. Relatives of Uyghurs detained in Thailand for more than a decade have begged the Thai authorities not to deport the 48 men back to China, after the detainees suggested their return appeared imminent.
A UN panel of experts this week urged Thailand to “immediately halt the possible transfer”, warning the men were at “real risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment if they are returned”. There are also concerns for the men’ s health after some of them went on hunger strike on 10 January after they said they were asked and refused to sign “voluntary return” documents.
Thai authorities have denied they are planning to deport the Uyghurs, while China’s foreign ministry has declined to comment on the case. China has said it opposes “any act of condoning or even supporting illegal immigration”. China’s embassy in Thailand said reports about the Uyghurs detained in Thailand were “spreading false narratives”.
Bilal Ablet, whose elder brother Shakir Hamid is being held in an immigration detention centre in Bangkok, said the men had been “forgotten by the world”. “The Chinese government doesn’t want the world to hear their stories,” said Ablet, who left China in 2016. “The Chinese government is always paranoid about Uyghurs going to a safe country in large numbers and living together. They always believe that’s a threat … that is the reason why the Chinese government wants them back.”.
