Amnesty warns Uyghur deportations risk lives

Amnesty International has urged Thailand to offer two Uyghur men sanctuary in a safe third country, warning that deporting them to China would endanger their lives and violate international law.

Secretary-General Agnes Callamard called on the Thai government to halt any plans to return the men, provide access to lawyers of their choice and find a safe third-country solution, saying their forced return would breach international law.

"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," Ms Callamard said.

She warned Thailand against repeating its February 2025 deportation of 40 Uyghur men, whose whereabouts and well-being remain unknown despite subsequent visits by Thai representatives to China's Xinjiang region.

The two men are among five Uyghurs remaining in Thailand from a group of more than 300 detained without charge on March 13, 2014, after fleeing persecution and discrimination in Xinjiang.

On Oct 21, the two were released from prison under a royal pardon and transferred to Bangkok's Immigration Detention Centre. Amnesty said they had since been denied access to their lawyers, civil society organisations and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand.

Both men have told their legal representatives that they fear for their lives if returned to China and do not consent to deportation. They have spent more than 12 years in Thai detention.

Ms Callamard said diplomatic assurances from Beijing could not override Thailand's obligation not to return anyone to a country where they face a real risk of torture or other serious human rights violations.

Amnesty also 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 deportation where there are substantial grounds to believe a person would face torture, ill-treatment or enforced disappearance.

The organisation said its 2021 report documented crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang.