Amnesty International has urged Thailand not to return two detained Uyghur men to China, warning that they could face torture or enforced disappearance.
Thailand’s National Security Council (NSC), meanwhile, says the men face Chinese arrest warrants and that any extradition must follow legal procedures.
Both positions were reported yesterday, November 4, after the two men were released from prison under royal pardons on October 21 and transferred to Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Centre.
No decision on their destination has been confirmed, with both China and a third country mentioned as possible options.
The men are among five Uyghurs still held in Thailand from a group of more than 300 detained in March 2014 after fleeing persecution and discrimination in China’s Xinjiang region.
In June 2015, Thailand allowed 173 Uyghur women and children to travel to Türkiye but deported at least 109 others to China.
Five men from the group later attempted to escape immigration detention in 2020. They were convicted and imprisoned, preventing their removal alongside other Uyghur detainees.
Amnesty said a Chinese embassy letter dated January 7, 2025, requested the return of 45 Uyghur men who remained in Thailand. The following month, Thailand deported 40 of them to China, prompting international criticism.
The five imprisoned men remained in Thailand. Two received royal pardons in October this year, while the other three are still serving sentences expected to last approximately another year.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard warned that returning the two recently pardoned men to China would expose them to serious human rights violations.
Both men have spent more than 12 years in Thai detention. According to Amnesty, they previously told their lawyers that they feared for their lives if returned to China and did not consent to being sent back.
The organisation also alleged that Thai officials had prevented the men from meeting their lawyers since their October 21 transfer. It said civil society organisations and Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission had also been denied access.
However, NSC Secretary General Chaiyaphruek Duangpraphat said he understood that the men had already appointed and met lawyers.
He said all five Uyghurs faced Chinese arrest warrants and had not been granted refugee status. He maintained that their possible extradition was a judicial matter rather than a government policy decision.
Chaiyaphruek explained that Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs would examine any formal extradition request from China before referring it to prosecutors and the courts.
He said the men could contest an extradition request through their lawyers. He maintained that a court decision permitting extradition would lead to their transfer under Thailand’s treaty with China, while another outcome could leave open the possibility of a third country accepting them.
Immigration Bureau deputy commander Thanit Thaiwatcharamat separately told AFP that the two men could be deported to China or another country, depending on the Thai government’s decision.
Amnesty has called for the men’s release and voluntary relocation to a safe third country, arguing that diplomatic assurances from China would not remove the risk of mistreatment.
The organisation also expressed concern about the 40 Uyghur men deported in February 2025, saying their whereabouts and well-being had not been fully established.
Amnesty cited Thailand’s obligations under the Convention against Torture and Article 13 of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, which prohibits transferring people where there are substantial grounds to believe they could face torture or enforced disappearance.
Amnesty documented serious human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups in Xinjiang in a 2021 report, with similar findings published by the UN in August 2022.
China denies allegations of widespread abuses, saying its policies were intended to counter extremism and promote development. Beijing has also described the facilities criticised by rights groups as voluntary training centres that have since closed.
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