At least 40 Uyghurs was deported to China, and Thai authorities confirmed, despite warnings for the Rights Groups to deal with possible torture and even death.
The group is thought to have flew to the Chinese Region of Xinjiang on Thursday, after being held at the Bangkok Center for 10 years.
China has been charged with committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Uyghur population and other mainly Muslim ethnic groups in the northwestern Xinjiang region. Beijing denies all the allegations.
It’s the first time Thailand has been deported by Uyghurs since 2015.
The deportation was preoccupied with secret after the United States and the United Nations triggered serious concerns.
Thai Media reported that several trucks, some with windows blocked black plastic leaves, left Bangkok’s main immigration detention center early Thursday morning.
A few hours later, the Flighthrader24 Tracker showed an unplanned China Southern Airlines flight leaving Bangkok, eventually arrived in Xinjiang. It was not immediately clear how many people were deported.
The Thai Defense Minister told Reuters news agency that Beijing had given the assurances that he would deport themselves to.
Beijing said 40 Chinese illegal immigrants were returned from Thailand, but refused to confirm that the Uyghurs group.
“The repatriation was conducted in accordance with the laws of China and Thailand, international law and international practice,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The Chinese state media reported that the group “fascinated” criminal organizations and that they ran into Thailand after they had left the country illegally.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra initially did not confirm that the deportations had happened when the journalists asked them.
“In any country in the world, the principles of law, international processes and human rights must be adhered to,” she said.
The group is considered to be the last of more than 300 Uyghurs, which were detained at the 2014 Thai border after running away from repression in Xinjiang.
Many were sent to Turkey, which usually offers asylum uyghurs, while others were deported to China In 2015 – encouraging the storm of protest from the Government and the Human Rights Group.
“What does the Thai government do?” This is the opposition MP Kannavee Suebsang on social networks on Thursday.
“There should be no deportation of Uyghur to face persecution. They were in prison for 11 years. We have violated their human rights for too long.”
It is known that the custody center where Uyghurs kept – which were charged without crime, except that they entered Thailand without a visa – were irrigation and overcrowded. Pethura died in custody.
In a statement on Thursday, Human Rights Watch said the group now faces a high risk of torture, a disappearance and a long -term prison.
“The Thai transmission of the Uyghur detainees to China is a sharp violation of Thailand’s obligations under domestic and international laws,” said Asia Director Asia Asia Elaine Pearson.
“Until yesterday [Wednesday]High Thai officials have given more public beliefs that these men will not be transferred, including allies and UN officials. “
Phil Robertson, Director of the Azian Proverb for Human Rights and Work (Ahrla), said the deportations “completely destroyed” Charade “that the current Thai government was different from the previous” when it came to transnational repression and cooperated with authoritarian neighbors. ”
Amnesty International described deportations as “unimaginably cruel.”
Members of Bipartisan of the US Committee of China on Wednesday issued a statement warning that deportations “would be a clear violation of international human rights to which the kingdom of Thailand is obliged to international law.”
The UN said he was “deeply complaining” about the deportation.
There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslims, who live in Xinjiang, which is officially known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xuar).
Uyghurs speak their own language, which is similar to Turkish, and consider themselves cultural and ethnically close states of Central Asia. They make up less than half of the Xinjiang population.
In recent decades, they have recorded the mass migration of the Han Chinese (Chinese ethnic majority) in Xinjiang, which the state allegedly orchestrated to dilute the minority population there.
China was also charged with targeting Muslim religious figures and forbids religious practices in the region, as well as destruction of mosques and tomb.
