GENEVA – United Nations experts expressed grave concern Friday over the fate of 40 Uyghur Muslim men forcibly returned to China by Thailand a year ago, saying their whereabouts, health, and legal status remain unknown.
The UN experts said the men were deported on Feb. 27, 2025, despite repeated warnings that they faced a risk of enforced disappearance, torture, and other serious rights violations.
“The disappearances demonstrate a broader pattern of transnational repression targeting ethnic and religious minorities and individuals perceived to be critical of the Chinese government,” the experts said in a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the deportations.
According to the experts, Thai authorities returned the men to China under what was described as intense pressure from Beijing, without applying the safeguards required under the international law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits sending individuals to countries where they may face persecution or serious harm.
Before their deportation, the men had been held for more than a decade at Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre in incommunicado detention, the experts said. They were reportedly kept in substandard conditions without contact with families, lawyers, or the outside world.
“Despite China’s response, the lack of reliable, comprehensive, and independently verified information surrounding these men’s fate and whereabouts is profoundly alarming,” the experts said. “Families have received no communication, no confirmation of the place of detention or whereabouts, and no indication as to whether their loved ones are even alive.”
The experts said the forced returns were carried out despite urgent appeals from U.N. bodies, international human rights mechanisms, Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission, and civil society groups.
They also criticized China for denying detainees timely and confidential access to legal counsel, saying that many have been denied visits for months or years under broad national security claims. Families often receive inconsistent or misleading information, making it difficult to verify relatives’ conditions or locations, the experts said.
Citing credible reports and victim testimony, the experts alleged that Chinese authorities subject relatives of detainees and members of local communities to tight surveillance, monitoring their movements and communications.
“This pervasive oversight creates a climate of fear in which many families are too afraid to search for their loved ones, seek information, or speak publicly about their cases due to fear of reprisals,” they said.
The experts warned that denying legal access while intimidating families enables serious human rights violations to occur without accountability.
They urged China to guarantee the safety and welfare of the 40 men by granting independent monitors unhindered and private access, and to ensure their families are not subjected to intimidation or uncertainty.
They also called on Thailand and other countries to halt the forced return of Uyghurs to China and appealed to the international community to strengthen safeguards against refoulement and ensure accountability for what they described as acts of transnational repression.
GSV News Service
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