Beijing [China] February 15 : A total of 48 Uyghurs detained for over a decade in Thailand now face the imminent threat of being sent back to China and have requested the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for protection.
Amid rising concerns over the future of refugees, many of whom have also died in custody, have requested to be sent to another country, according to a report by Freedom House.
UN specialists have urged Thai authorities to prevent the men from being returned to China, where they could be tortured, imprisoned, or worse.
Their predicament serves as an example of how authoritarian governments use other countries' immigration policies to carry out transnational repression to frighten, silence, or injure cross-border critics.
Around 2014, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which is home to Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic groups, saw the implementation of the "Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism" and the "People's War on Terror", the report stated.
In an attempt to settle in Turkey, many Uyghurs followed unauthorized migration routes through nations in Southeast Asia's Mekong region. In Thailand, hundreds have been arrested, the Freedom House report revealed.
It further highlighted that Thailand has not ratified the 1967 protocol or the UN Refugee Convention and does not acknowledge the status of refugees or asylum seekers. Those the government deems to be illegal migrants may be held for an indefinite period.
Additionally, it disregards the international ban on refoulement, which forbids forcing refugees or asylum seekers to return to a nation where they are likely to suffer grave human rights abuses. Because Thailand's government has deemed the detention of Uyghurs to be a matter of national security, they are particularly subject to severe restrictions, it stated.
They are, therefore, not allowed to speak to non-Uyghur inmates or get in touch with anybody outside of their confinement centre. Additionally, they are unable to receive public services in Thailand through the National Screening Mechanism, which is how other migrants do so.
With 22 per cent of all the events that Freedom House documented between 2014 and 2024, China is the world's top offender of international repression. The breadth and depth of Beijing's effort are noteworthy; its targets include journalists, students, former insiders, ethnic and religious organizations, and human rights advocates.
There is time to prevent these men from being returned to China. Instead of restricting access, Thai authorities should allow the UNHCR to interact with the detained men, who deserve a speedier end to their long ordeal, the report stated.
The authorities, with the assistance of international partners, might permit the men to relocate to a third country that will accept them. The UNHCR can do everything in its power to assist these guys while fending off any pressure Beijing may put on it to fulfil its crucial role, it added.