UN raises alarm over 40 Uyghur men deported from Thailand under China’s pressure

Geneva: United Nations experts expressed serious concern over 40 Uyghur men who were forcibly deported to China by Thai authorities a year ago under pressure from Beijing, as their current whereabouts, health and fate remain unknown.

“The disappearances reflect a broader pattern of transnational repression targeting ethnic and religious minorities and individuals perceived to be critical of the Chinese Government,” the experts said. They highlighted that, on February 27, 2025, Thailand deported the 40 men to China, reportedly under intense pressure from the Chinese Government, without applying the safeguards required by customary international law— “principle of non-refoulement”. The deportations, they said, exposed them to the risk of gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearance, torture and arbitrary deprivation of life.

According to the experts, before their forced return, these men had been detained incommunicado for over a decade in Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre, in substandard conditions and without contact with their families, legal representatives or the outside world. “Despite China’s response, the lack of reliable, comprehensive and independently verified information surrounding these men’s fate and whereabouts is profoundly alarming. Families have received no communication, no confirmation of the place of detention or whereabouts, and no indication as to whether their loved ones are even alive,” the experts said. (IANS)

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