Thailand Deports Dozens of Uyghurs to China, Activists Say
New York Times6 days ago
Thailand Deports 40 Uyghurs to China
Above: The entrance of an immigration detention centre is pictured in Bangkok on Jan. 22, 2025. Image copyright: Chanakarn Laosarakham/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
Thailand's Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai on Thursday confirmed that the government had deported 40 Uyghurs to China — saying the action was in accordance with Chinese, Thai, and international law — ending their 11-year detention.
Several trucks with blackened windows reportedly departed from Bangkok's immigration center in the early hours of Thursday, followed by an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight that landed six hours later in Kashgar, Xinjiang.
The deported Uyghurs were part of a larger group of over 300 Uyghurs who were arrested in Thailand in 2014. While 109 were deported to China, 173 were sent to Turkey, and some 53 remained in Thai detention, where at least five died over the years.
The Spin
Pro-China narrative
The deportation was a necessary and lawful action carried out with proper safeguards and Chinese government assurances of the deportees' safety and well-being. It followed standard immigration procedures and international practices for handling illegal migrants. Western political forces have been spreading lies to create a false image of the situation, casting China — and Thailand — in a negative light.
Anti-China narrative
This outrageous, unacceptable action clearly violates the Royal Thai Government's obligations under international law. The deportation represents a grave human rights violation that exposes vulnerable individuals to serious risks of torture, enforced disappearance, and persecution in China, where systematic abuses against Uyghurs have been extensively documented.