Five Uyghurs who have been detained in Thailand since 2014 are subject to Chinese arrest warrants, Thailand’s security chief said today, adding that a court would decide whether they are returned to China.
“These five have arrest warrants in China and they have no refugee status,” said Chaipruak Doungprapat, secretary-general of Thailand’s National Security Council. He said that if China requested their extradition, Thailand’s foreign ministry would assess the request before a court made a decision.
The men were among more than 300 Uyghurs held in Thailand in 2014, most of whom have since left, including a group of about 40 sent to China last year in a move that drew international criticism. The five were jailed for trying to escape immigration detention in 2020 and must serve their sentences before any deportation. Two of them were pardoned last month and are now in immigration detention.
Asked about the men, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning did not give details, saying cooperation between China and Thailand against cross-border crimes such as illegal immigration was in line with both countries’ laws and with international law and practice.
Thailand is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention but is bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which bars sending people to places where their lives or freedom are at risk. Human Rights Watch said the men faced “grave risks of torture and other serious abuses” in China and should be allowed to go to a safe third country.
Beijing has been accused of detaining more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims since 2017, which the United Nations has said could amount to crimes against humanity. China denies the allegations, saying its policies in Xinjiang have boosted economic development and rooted out extremism. A Thai foreign ministry official told a parliamentary committee in September that both China and a Western country had asked for the five to be sent to them.