Uyghurs Detained Indefinitely in Thailand Face Uncertain Future

Dozens of Uyghurs who escaped China a decade ago remain in indefinite detention in Thailand, facing an uncertain future as they receive conflicting explanations from the UN refugee agency and Thai authorities on the status of their cases, VOA reported in an article yesterday.

The Uyghur detainees, who crossed into Thailand in 2014 with the help of traffickers, have been held in immigration detention ever since, the article mentioned.

It quoted a rights activist saying 43 Uyghurs are currently detained at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, living in cramped conditions with 5-6 people per room.

“We fled repression in China,” said one detainee who asked to be identified only as Ahmad. “But we feel we have been abandoned by the world over the past decade.”

Earlier this month, an investigation by The New Humanitarian news agency obtained documents that showed the Thai government in 2020 petitioned the U.N. refugee agency, or UNHCR, “to play a more active role in resolving the Uyghurs’ indefinite detention, and that agency staff advised against doing this.”

The article also explains that Thailand has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not have laws granting refugees legal status.

In 2015, over 170 Uyghur women and children were transferred to Turkey, but 109 mostly male Uyghurs were later deported to China, drawing protests from the Uyghur community. Since then, Thailand has been reluctant to deal with the remaining Uyghur refugees.

The detainees’ plight has drawn international attention, with the UN expressing concerns about the “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” they may be facing.

Despite the awareness, their situation remains in limbo as they continue to await a resolution to their decade-long detention.