Thai officials move two Uyghur men to detention as deportation fears rise

Two Uyghur men currently serving prison terms in Thailand have been transferred to an immigration detention center, prompting urgent warnings from rights advocates. Human Rights Watch says the move signals that Thai authorities may be preparing to send the pair back to China. The organization is urging Bangkok to allow the men to travel to a safe third country instead. Elaine Pearson, the group's Asia director, noted that previous Thai governments had held Uyghurs in inhumane detention for years before complying with Beijing's demands. She described the returnees as having been forcibly disappeared once they arrived in China.

The two men are finishing seven-year sentences for offenses related to an attempted escape from immigration detention in January 2020. They were part of a larger group of more than 200 Uyghur men, women, and children detained by Thai police near the Malaysian border in 2014. The individuals had fled China, where the largely Muslim Turkic minority has faced decades of repressive treatment. Women and children from that original group have since been released to Turkey. The men have been deported to China in separate batches, a process that drew criticism from the United Nations and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Marzeyya Kasem, the girlfriend of one of the men, shared a letter he wrote in July with a Thai rights group. The man, whose name is withheld for security reasons, stated in the document that he would be treated like a slave if forced to return. He wrote that he questioned why he was a human being and what he had done wrong against China. Kasem said her boyfriend told reporters he wanted to go anywhere else but China. She added that she believes Bangkok is trying to build a more convincing legal basis for deportation after receiving criticism for the previous mass return.

The pair filed an appeal with Thailand's National Human Rights Commission office on Wednesday. The credibility of the legal case against them has been questioned by relatives and advocates. At least one of the men was a minor when he left China, yet he now has an outstanding arrest warrant. Kasem asked why China did not issue an Interpol red notice when the men were first detained in 2014. Chaipruak Doungprapat, the chief of Thailand's national security council, told reporters that the two men and three other Uyghurs in prison have outstanding warrants in China. It is not yet clear if Beijing has filed a formal extradition request.

Context for the current situation includes a major incident one year ago. Thai authorities forcibly sent 40 Uyguur men back to China despite appeals from the men and the United Nations. The United States and Canada reportedly offered to resettle that group, but Bangkok appeared unwilling to anger Beijing. The United Nations says the whereabouts of those 40 returnees are still unknown. China's foreign affairs ministry spokesperson said cooperation between the two countries in combating cross-border illegal activities is consistent with international law. Thailand's foreign affairs ministry declined to comment.