UN experts urge Thailand not to deport 48 Uyghurs to China

22/1/2025 13:06

United Nations human rights experts have urged Thailand not to send 48 Uyghurs in its custody back to China, warning they are at risk of torture, ill-treatment and "irreparable harm" if returned.



Human rights groups and some Thai lawmakers have raised concerns in the past week that the transfer to China of the Uyghurs, who have been held in immigration detention for more than a decade, was imminent. The government has said it has no such plans.



Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of surveillance and forced labour in camps. Beijing denies any abuses.



"These persons should not be returned to China," said U.N. Human Rights Special Rapporteurs in a statement on Tuesday on the 48 Uyghurs.



"Instead, they must be provided with access to asylum procedures and other humanitarian assistance," the experts said, adding half of the group had serious health conditions.