DECADE IN DETENTION
The group of 48 Uyghurs, arrested in 2013 and 2014, are being held in immigration centres around Thailand.
UN experts say they were detained after crossing the Thai border to seek protection, and they have allegedly been held in de facto incommunicado detention for more than a decade, with no access to lawyers or family members.
Urging Thailand to help them access asylum procedures and humanitarian assistance, the experts said: “It is our view that these persons should not be returned to China … We are concerned they are at risk of suffering irreparable harm.”
Human Rights Watch said last week that Thai immigration officials had asked the Uyghurs to complete new paperwork and had photographed them, steps the group believes are in preparation for their forcible transfer.
The rights group says the Uyghurs are on hunger strike, although Thai authorities have denied this.
The United States has branded China’s treatment of the mostly Muslim minority a “genocide”.
A damning UN report released in 2022 detailed violations including torture and forced labour and “large-scale” arbitrary detention in what Beijing calls vocational training centres.
Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism.
Many Uyghurs have fled China over the years, with some travelling through Myanmar to Thailand, but dozens have ended up stuck in detention there – the apparent victims of what observers say is the kingdom’s desire to avoid angering either Beijing or Washington.
The UN experts, who were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said 23 of the 48 Uyghurs suffer from serious health conditions.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-denies-plans-send-48-ughyur-back-china-4889091
