, the and , along with agencies, have condemned Thailand’s move to deport a group of at least 40 to China, against their will.
Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority based in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province. Many have fled China since 2014, facing
The deported are part of a larger group which Thailand had held in detention for a decade after they fled China in 2013 and 2014. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, five members of the group died in custody, while eight others remain detained in Thailand.
Just in January, Thailand any plans to repatriate the group of minority Muslims after US-based Human Right Watch (HRW) said Thai immigration officials had asked the Uyghurs to complete new paperwork and taken their photographs.
Foreign ministries condemn forced deportation
Germany’s foreign office criticized the move in a statement on Thursday.
“The deportation violates the principle, enshrined in international law, of not returning people to countries where they face serious human rights violations,” it said.
expressed disappointment with the US ally. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms Thailand’s forced return of at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where they lack due process rights and where Uyghurs have faced persecution, forced labor, and torture,” he said in a statement.
The diplomat said Thailand risked “running afoul of its international obligations” under the UN Convention Against Torture among other global conventions. “We urge all governments in countries where Uyghurs seek protection not to forcibly return ethnic Uyghurs to China,” he said.
Meanwhile Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Friday said Australia “strongly disagreed” with the move and that it “expects all countries to adhere to their domestic and international legal obligations, including non-refoulement obligations,” in a statement.
“We have repeatedly raised our concerns with the Thai Government and have also now raised our expectations about the group’s treatment with the Chinese authorities,” she said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said the incident was “deeply troubling.” He pointed out that the forced deportation violated the principles outlined in the UN Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
US, German and Australian governments are now calling on China to uphold the group’s rights.
What did China and Thailand say?
Beijing has said the repatriation is in line with both Thailand and China’s laws.
“We stand firmly against the attempts to use human rights as a pretext to interfere with China’s internal affairs and to use Xinjiang-related issues to disturb normal law enforcement cooperation between countries,” spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in the US, Liu Pengyu, said in an emailed response to Reuters.
Thailand, too, said that the Uyghurs had been sent back in accordance with international standards and that China had assured Thailand the individuals would be looked after.
HRW, Amnesty say group at risk of torture
On learning about the deportation HRW Asia director Elaine Pearson said Thailand had sent the Uyghurs “to face persecution.”
“After 11 years of inhumane detention in Thailand’s immigration lockup, these men are now at grave risk of being tortured, forcibly disappeared, and detained for long periods by the Chinese government,” Pearson said.
Amnesty International urged Thai and Chinese authorities to reveal the deportees’ whereabouts.
“We now call on the governments of Thailand and China to disclose the whereabouts of these individuals, and – if they continue to be in custody – to ensure that the full spectrum of their rights is respected…,” said Sarah Brooks, the organization’s China director.
For years now, human rights organizations how hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang are being sent to against their will. In extreme cases, there have been reports of torture and forced labour as well.
China has denied all allegations.
The US has described China’s treatment of the mostly Muslim minority as a “genocide,” one of the many thorns in US-China diplomatic relations.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
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