Responding to reports that two Uyghur men recently moved to an Immigration Detention Centre in Thailand face imminent forcible deportation to China, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:
“Thai authorities must immediately halt any plans to forcibly return these two Uyghur men to China, where they face a real risk of torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. Thailand must not repeat last year’s unlawful deportation of 40 Uyghurs, who were forced back to danger in China.
“These two men fled persecution only to spend more than a decade detained in Thailand. Amnesty International has documented crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Returning them would expose them to the abuses they sought to escape.
“Both men have previously made clear to their legal representatives that they fear for their lives if returned to China and do not consent to being sent back. Thai authorities must now allow them access to a lawyer of their choice and, together with the international community, urgently find a safe and voluntary third-country solution for them and the other Uyghurs still detained in Thailand.
“No amount of diplomatic assurance from China can override Thailand’s obligations not to return anyone to a real risk of torture or other serious human rights violations. After more than a decade in detention, these men must be released and given the chance to rebuild their lives in safety and freedom “
Background
The two men are among five Uyghurs remaining in Thailand from a group of over 300 who were apprehended without charge by the Thai authorities on 13 March 2014 after they had fled persecution and discrimination in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
On 21 October 2026, two of the five men were released from prison under a royal pardon and transferred to the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok. Since then, Thai authorities have denied the two men access to their lawyers, as well as blocked access to the men by civil society organizations and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand.
The two men have spent more than 12 years in Thai detention. In June 2015, Thailand allowed 173 women and children from the group to travel to Türkiye but unlawfully deported at least 109 people to China.
A document obtained by Amnesty International shows that, on 7 January 2025, the Chinese embassy in Thailand sent a letter to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting the “repatriation” of 45 Uyghur men who remained in the country. In February 2025, Thailand forcibly deported 40 of them, in breach international law. Five remained in a Thai prison to serve sentences related to an attempt to escape the Immigration Detention Centre.
Following the deportations, Thai authorities made two visits to Xinjiang in February and March 2025 at China’s invitation, as part of its efforts to provide diplomatic assurances. NGOs monitoring the case reported that Thai authorities were able to meet fewer than 10 deportees and that no subsequent updates have established that all are alive and safe; their whereabouts and wellbeing remain unknown. Amnesty International previously called on both governments to disclose the whereabouts of all 40 men.
Amnesty International opposes any use of diplomatic assurances that a person transferred would not be subjected to torture or other ill-treatment as it undermines the universality of the prohibition of torture and cannot be considered reliable. Thailand is bound by the Convention against Torture, and the principle of non-refoulement under international law, which prohibits States from returning or transferring anyone to a place where they would be at real risk of persecution or other human rights violations. Article 13 of Thailand’s Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, in force since 2023, prohibits deportation where there are substantial grounds to believe a person would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or enforced disappearance.
Amnesty International issued a groundbreaking report in 2021 documenting crimes against humanity of imprisonment, torture and persecution against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Despite similar UN findings released in an assessment report in August 2022, China has taken no steps to implement recommendations, remedy documented violations or investigate and hold accountable perpetrators. Instead, the government continues to silence criticism from those within and beyond its borders, issue counternarratives denying abuse and maintains its discriminatory and assimilationist policies.