Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has come under mounting criticism following the controversial repatriation to China of 40 Uyghurs, who had been detained in Thailand for over a decade.
The decision adds more ammunition to the opposition, which is prepared to grill her in a no-confidence debate scheduled for late March.
The deportation was conducted furtively in the early hours of February 27 when Thai immigration officials moved the Uyghurs from a holding facility in Soi Suan Phlu in Bangkok to Don Mueang Airport in ominously covered trucks.
Opposition MPs, including Romadon Panjor and Kannavee Suebsang, as well as media representatives reported the secret operation under darkness, which prompted a series of denials from government officials.
Paetongtarn was ill-prepared for the fallout, as she told reporters briefly on the morning of February 27 that she had not yet discussed the matter in detail with concerned officials.
However, she looked more confident a day later, holding a press conference to explain that the Uyghurs had been repatriated to their home country of their own volition.
"We confirm that we have not violated the main UN regulations or human rights because being detained for over 10 years already constitutes a human rights violation,” Paetongtarn said.
“In principle, once nationality is confirmed, individuals must be returned to their country of origin,” she said, adding that no third country had come forward to give them refuge, while China had provided documentation proving their Chinese nationality.
The premier said she had spoken with the Chinese authorities and had received confirmation that if the Uyghurs were sent back, they would not be prosecuted, would not be subject to any investigations, and would be able to reunite with their families and reintegrate into society immediately.
Other senior Cabinet members like Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, and Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong came out to insist that the deportation was done in accordance with diplomatic protocol and legal requirements.
Chorus of condemnation
The Thai government’s deportation of the 40 Uyghurs to China was met with strong criticism and condemnation domestically and internationally, as it was conducted against their free will.
Dr Nitiwuth Wongsangiam, a physician who has provided the Uyghurs medical service and treatment for years, told a recent seminar that none of them wanted to return to China.
They have no hope of ever leaving the detention room and have been unable to contact their wives and children, from whom they have been separated for over 10 years, he said.
“What can be confirmed is that over nearly two years of providing medical treatment to the Uyghurs approximately 15 times, I have spoken with almost every detained Uyghur. I can affirm that not a single one of them has ever expressed a desire to return to China,” the physician said.
MP Kannavee said the government had violated domestic and international law as well as human rights principles, as the repatriation was a forced operation, against their will. He vowed to grill the PM on this issue during the upcoming censure debate.
'Uyghurs begged against deportation'
He showed three hand-written letters from the Uyghurs to Prime Minister Paetongtarn and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, begging not to be deported as they would face dangers and punishment in China.
The MP confirmed that the letters were written by the Uyghurs, rejecting the allegation of the Correction Department that they had been fabricated with political motives.
Senator Angkhana Neelaphaijit expressed grave concerns over the forced deportation, and warned that the move could damage Thailand’s reputation in the international community.
As the chairperson of the Senate’s Committee on Political Development, Human Rights, and Consumer Protection, she said she had received messages from the Uyghurs since last year, expressing fears about being deported to China.
The commission had sent letters to the Immigration Bureau three times, but was denied permission to visit the Uyghurs on all three occasions, she said.
In a recent testimony to the Senate committee, relevant agencies, including the Immigration Bureau, the Royal Thai Police, the National Security Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice, reaffirmed that there would be no deportation of the Uyghurs to their country of origin, Angkhana said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a forceful statement, condemning close ally Thailand for forcibly returning at least 40 Uyghurs to China. He warned that the deported group was at risk of grave human rights abuses.
The US Embassy in Bangkok issued a travel warning to American citizens of possible violence in Thailand. In 2015, after the deportation of 109 Uyghurs to China, a bomb blast at the Erawan Shrine in the heart of Bangkok left 20 people dead and 125 injured. "Similar deportations have prompted violent retaliatory attacks in the past," the statement said.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said the forced return of the Uyghurs who had been detained in Thailand for over 11 years was deeply troubling.
“This violates the principle of non-refoulement for which there is a complete prohibition in cases where there is a real risk of torture, ill-treatment, or other irreparable harm upon return,” he said.
Contained in Article 3 of the Convention against Torture, the principle prohibits returning individuals to a country where they face a risk of persecution, torture or ill-treatment. It is also referred to in Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The right to seek asylum and of non-refoulement are also enshrined in Article 13 of Thailand’s Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, and Article 16 of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
Long period of detention
The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, primarily fleeing political, economic and social oppression. It is estimated that more than 300 Uyghurs arrived in Thailand over the past decade.
Their presence became known publicly in 2014 when a group of 220 Uyghurs was found in a rubber plantation in the southern province of Songkhla, before they were about to move to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation.
On June 29, 2015, the junta-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha allowed 173 women and children to leave for Turkey (now Turkiye) where they were granted asylum.
A week later, 109 men were handed over to Chinese authorities on July 8, 2015, triggering a wave of international criticism. Some of the deportees to China were reportedly sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on unclear charges, according to Human Rights Watch advisor Sunai Phasuk.
The deportation led to widespread protests, particularly in Turkey, where angry demonstrators stormed the Thai consulate in Istanbul on July 9, 2015.
A month later, on August 17, 2015, the Erawan Shrine bombing in Bangkok killed 20 people. Some reports speculated that the attack might have been revenge for the deportation of Uyghurs to China, but no definitive link was confirmed.
Of the remaining Uyghurs, five died in a detention center, another five were jailed for running away from the holding facility years ago.
A PR exercise
China is said to have requested the repatriation of the remaining 45 Uyghurs in its record for quite some time over the past years, but the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok made an official request on January 7, a month before Paetongtarn's state visit to Beijing.
In the letter circulated a few days after the deportation, China said that “the 45 individuals have been verified to be only involved in illegally crossing national borders and have not been found involved with other serious crimes or offenses”.
“Based on the above circumstances, they will be allowed, in accordance with Chinese law, to return home directly and resume normal lives upon arrival in China,” the letter said.
While the Thai authorities were reluctant to disclose the repatriation, China launched a public relations exercise about the return of the Uyghurs to their homeland, releasing pictures and video clips, showing them being warmly greeted by friends and relatives upon their return.
The secretary-general of the National Security Council, Chatchai Bangchuad, also appeared in the clips, as he had accompanied the Uyghurs to China, conveying the message to the public that they had arrived safe and sound.
