The German government and human rights organizations have criticized Thailand’s deportation of a group of people belonging to the the Muslim Uighur minority to China, warning that they could face serious human rights abuses.
“The deportation violates the principle, enshrined in international law, of not returning people to countries where they face serious human rights violations,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin.
Berlin urged Beijing to respect and protect the rights of the deportees and their families.
According to the US-based human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), Thai authorities deported 40 Uighur men on Thursday, sending them on a Chinese airline flight from Bangkok to Kashgar, a city in China’s far-western Xinjiang province.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the “repatriation,” with spokesman Lin Jian saying it was carried out in line with Chinese, Thai, and international law.
Beijing said the move was part of efforts to combat human smuggling and cross-border crime, adding that the rights and interests of those deported would be protected.
HRW Asia director Elaine Pearson said: “Thailand blatantly disregarded domestic law and its international obligations by forcibly sending these [Uighurs] to China to face persecution.”
“After 11 years of inhumane detention in Thailand’s immigration lockup, these men are now at grave risk of being tortured, forcibly disappeared, and detained for long periods by the Chinese government,” Pearson added.
Amnesty International also condemned the deportation, urging Thai and Chinese authorities to reveal the deportees’ whereabouts.
“We now call on the governments of Thailand and China to disclose the whereabouts of these individuals, and – if they continue to be in custody – to ensure that the full spectrum of their rights is respected, including their right to be free from torture and other forms of ill-treatment,” said Sarah Brooks, the organization’s China director.
Human rights organizations have been reporting for years that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang have been sent to re-education camps against their will, in some cases tortured and pushed into forced labour.
The Chinese government denies these allegations.
