The United States has been imposed by the Santions of Visa for several Thai officials for surprise Deportation 40 Uyghura back to China Last month, a rare case of punishment for countries that have returned members of the persecuted Muslim minority, despite warnings that upon their return they could face the torture and long -term prison.
Visa limitations could limit the ability of former and current Thai officials responsible for or the compulsory return of Uyghurs to travel to the United States. State Department did not reveal the names of the clerks, citing confidentiality.
“We advocate the fight against the effort of China to press the governments to forcibly return Uyghurs and other groups to China, where they are subject to torture and the disappearances carried out,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.
The move followed the day after the European Parliament passed the resolution Confessing deportation and calling to Thailand to “stop any additional forced refugee refugee to countries where their lives are in danger.”
Double announcements could complicate things to the Thai government at a ticklish time. Thai authorities are trying to remove potential tariffs from the United States, with which the country has a $ 35 billion trade deficit. They also try to complete the free trade agreement with the European Unic.
China used its power and influence to influence its critics abroad and press the governments to reprise citizens who flee to persecution. In recent years he has ruled detained as many as a million Uyghurs and others In camps for internation and prisons, increased Birth control measures for Muslim women and put the Muslim children In the boarding school.
Julian Ku, a professor of rights at Hofstra University, who is a close observer of American politics at Uyghurs, said on social media that a visa limit policy was a “pretty dramatic step”, and that he could not “remember such sanctions in third -party countries before.”
The Thai Vice President for Foreign Affairs said this month that Uyghurs’ deportation was in the best interest of the country because of the possibility of retaliation from Beijing if they were sent elsewhere. He said some countries offered to move Uyghurs, but he described offers as “unrealistic” given that resetting would not protect them with Thailand from a potential fall with China.
Global Times, a state newspaper in China, denied American visual policy as “hypocritical mixing in Chinese internal affairs under the guise of human rights.”
