Thailand has repatriated 40 Uyghur Muslims to China, despite concerns from human rights groups about the risks they face, including imprisonment and torture in Xinjiang. The UN has labeled China's treatment of Uyghurs in the region as potentially constituting crimes against humanity. While Thailand acted under pressures from Beijing, human rights activists criticized the decision, stating it sends a dangerous message to Uyghurs seeking asylum. In earlier incidents in the 2010s, numerous Uyghurs were detained while attempting to flee China. Calls for asylum for remaining detainees reflect ongoing tensions between human rights and diplomatic relations.
The United Nations said in 2022 that China's program of mass detention and ideological indoctrination in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia, may constitute crimes against humanity.
'Once again, the world has failed the Uyghurs,' Rushan Abbas, chair of the World Uyghur Congress executive committee, said in an email message. 'Thailand's decision, made under pressure from the Chinese government, sends a chilling message to other countries that no Uyghur seeking safety is truly safe.'
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