In December, shortly after Paetongtarn met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, Thai officials began secretly discussing plans to deport the Uyghurs, according to four people familiar with the matter, including one from the Thai government and three others in touch with Thai authorities.
Thai lawmakers, activists, and lawyers believe a group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade may have been deported to China early Thursday after trucks with covered windows were seen leaving a detention center and China said Chinese citizens had been repatriated from the Southeast Asian country.
The deportation had been scheduled for early Thursday morning, according to a Thai government official, a foreign official, and three people in touch with Thai authorities.
The Thai government’s treatment of the detainees may constitute a violation of international law, according to a 2024 letter sent to the Thai government by U.N. human rights experts.
Another group of 173 Uyghurs, mostly women and children, were sent to Turkey, leaving 53 Uyghurs stuck in Thai immigration detention and seeking asylum.
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