Forty-eight Uyghurs detained in Thailand for nearly 11 years are on hunger strike to protest against imminent deportation to China, where they face imprisonment or execution.
They were caught by the Thai authorities in 2014, fleeing from severe persecution in their home region of northern China.
They had paid smugglers to take them to southeast Asia. From there, many planned to move to Turkey, where there is a diaspora of Uyghurs, ethnic Muslims with Turkic roots.
Instead, they were captured, detained and now face deportation.
“Thailand is on the verge of handing us over to the Chinese government,” said a man who requested anonymity so that his phone would not be confiscated, in a voice message.
“This may be my last message to you all. We have been on a hunger strike since Jan 10; this is our plea for help.”
“We could be imprisoned, and we might even lose our lives,” the group wrote in a letter obtained by The Telegraph.
Uyghur detainees are held in this detention centre in Bangkok – Haruka Nuga/AP
“We urgently appeal to all international organisations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from this tragic fate before it is too late.”
China has lobbied Thailand for years to deport Uyghurs, though Thai political sources and advocates say that Beijing has significantly increased pressure in recent weeks as the two countries prepare to mark 50 years of bilateral relations.
Those in Thai detention were asked to sign voluntary return forms, a measure that preceded the forced deportation of more than 100 Uyghurs in 2015, prompting an international outcry.
The issue of the Uyghurs tests Thailand’s balancing act between Washington, a long-time ally, and Beijing, its largest source of foreign investment.
“The problem for the Thai government, as they see it, is that they are in close relationships with great powers – both China and the US – and it has found itself sandwiched between two poles,” said David Tobin, a lecturer on East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield
Experts also said that China appears to be taking advantage of the US presidential transition – a time when US foreign policy may be in flux.
The detainees sent a letter to the outside world on Jan 10, pleading for help – AP
“One of the key actors in global politics is undergoing a presidential handover,” said Mr Tobin, adding that China was “aware that US politics can be in paralysis…[during] this moment of limbo between one president to the next”.
Still, there are signs that the US is watching closely: the Thai detention of Uyghurs was raised this week in a US confirmation hearing for Marco Rubio, the senator nominated by the incoming Trump administration to be the next secretary of state.
Concern over Thai human rights
Thailand has a chequered record when it comes to asylum seekers. The country is not a signatory to a 1951 UN convention regarding refugees, and has in the past deported people despite serious human rights concerns.
In November, six Cambodian dissidents charged with treason in the increasingly authoritarian nation were returned to the homeland they had fled in 2022.
China’s brutal repression of the Uyghurs has been described as genocide by some Western governments and politicians, including Britain’s parliament.
More than a million Uyghurs are held in Chinese “re-education” camps and prisons. Former detainees have told The Telegraph of horrific torture and abuse.
A high-security ‘re-education’ camp in northern China – as many as one million Uyghurs are held in such facilities – Greg Baker/AFP via Getty
Increasing pressures prompted many to escape, at times paying thousands of dollars to be smuggled from China. In 2014, more than 350 Uyghurs were caught by Thai authorities near its border with Malaysia.
The following year, Thailand deported 109 of that group to China, against their will; they have not been heard from since. A separate group of 173 Uyghurs, mostly women and children, were resettled in Turkey.
The rest remained in Thai immigration detention, though five have died over the years, including two children, leaving these last 48 Uyghurs. Five of them are serving prison sentences for trying to break out.
Conditions are so rough that they may constitute a violation of international law, as UN human rights experts warned the Thai government in a February 2024 letter.
Advocates say almost all of the men suffer from chronic illnesses, including paralysis, and heart and lung issues as a result of cramped and unsanitary circumstances.
“They are not given enough food, and they are not allowed to buy their own food from outside of the detention centre,” said Bilal Ahmet, 35. His older brother remains in Thai detention separated from his wife and children, who were sent to Turkey.
He added: “There is also no proper medical care possible.”
The Uyghurs have been denied visits from relatives, lawyers, and international organisations including the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees.
They have all applied for asylum under the UN agency, but it has not been allowed to visit them.
“We heard the unconfirmed reports as well and promptly checked with the authorities in Thailand who have assured us to the contrary,” said Babar Baloch, a spokesman for UNHCR.
“We continue to remind the authorities of their obligations on non-refoulement and to advocate for alternatives to detention.”
Third country solution
Advocates hope the group can be settled in a third country, though this would probably anger the Chinese government, which casts the Uyghurs as jihadists.
“If China claims that the Uyghur refugees are terrorists, they should provide evidence for verification,” said Kanavee Suebsang, a Thai MP.
“Thailand will not keep them if proven guilty, but if they are innocent, they should be allowed to decide their own fate,” he said.
“Otherwise, the continued detention of the Uyghurs would be a severe violation of human dignity and human rights.”
Any third country receiving the group would be likely to face pressure and punishment from China.
“People don’t take extraordinary risks like this to escape with their families unless they feel that they are under serious threat,” said Sophie Richardson, co-executive director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of rights groups.
“The situation in [Xinjiang] region has only gotten worse since they left,” she said. Now, she added, they face “being sent back to a country whose government we know will persecute them – that’s why they left in the first place”.
More than a decade on, the fact that these 48 Uyghurs remain in detention “is a powerful statement about the Chinese government’s intent to keep people like this quiet, and other governments’ unwillingness to exceed Beijing’s ambitions and secure their release”, said Ms Richardson.
She added: “The Thai government clearly does not want to irk Beijing, and no other governments or UN agencies are helping the Thais do the right thing.”
Sources said that Thai immigration officials weren’t aware of the situation, suggesting that discussions on this are potentially happening with China at the most senior levels of government.
“We have high concern at the moment, because the [Thai] prime minister is going to visit China very soon,” said Naiyana Thanawattho, executive director of Asylum Access Thailand.
“We are afraid of how this … will impact the situation for the Uyghurs.”
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