HRW Calls on Türkiye to halt mistreatment of Uyghurs

HRW Calls on Türkiye to halt mistreatment of Uyghurs
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern on Wednesday over deteriorating legal protections for Uyghur migrants living in Türkiye, Jurist News reported. The report revealed that Türkiye has subjected Uyghurs to inhumane conditions and the risk of deportation to China.

The report stated that Turkish authorities’ immigration crackdown involves assigning “restriction codes” to Uyghurs, denoting them as threats to “public security.” Restriction codes often result in the denial of international protection applications, arbitrary detention, and deportations, turning Uyghurs into “irregular migrants.”

The report highlighted that conditions in Turkish deportation centers are severe and may constitute breaches of Türkiye’s legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 7 of the ICCPR protects individuals from being “subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Interviews with Uyghurs also revealed mistreatment in detention centers, including strip-searches, overcrowded cells, and forcing detainees to sleep on cement floors.

Restriction codes may also limit access to reliable appeal mechanisms. HRW’s review of appeal orders in five deportation cases illustrates this issue. In each case, the court upheld the deportation order without explaining how the Uyghur applicants allegedly posed a threat to public security and order. The court further concluded that the applicants had not established a credible risk of ill-treatment if they returned to China. One Turkish lawyer interviewed by HRW remarked that “judges can often make a negative decision when they see restriction codes, just to be safe.”

The Turkish court decisions contradict previous reports of the alleged human rights abuses involving Uyghurs, including enforced disappearances, mass surveillance, and cultural and religious persecution.

HRW also urged Türkiye to halt deportations of Uyghurs to countries that have extradition agreements with China. This is to prevent transnational repression of Uyghurs by the Chinese government, including arbitrary arrests, detentions, and extraditions, as seen in Malaysia, Cambodia, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia.

Such deportations may also violate the principle of non-refoulement under customary international law and international human rights treaties. In Turkish law, Article 55 of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection also prohibits deporting people where “there are serious indications to believe that they shall be subjected to the death penalty, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Türkiye, however, reportedly deported three Uyghurs directly to China in May 2018 and three others to Tajikistan in June 2019. According to HRW, Tajikistan reportedly returned Uyghurs to China, but they have not been heard from since.

Since 2017, the Chinese government has reportedly detained Uyghurs in “re-education camps,” subjecting them to forced labour and family separation among other alleged abuses. While hundreds of Uyghurs have fled China and sought refuge elsewhere, around 50,000 Uyghurs currently live in Türkiye. In September, HRW also warned that China’s new legislation may increase repression of ethnic minorities and extend “ideological control” beyond the country’s borders.

Despite calls from various parties, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda declined to investigate the alleged genocide against Uyghurs in 2020, claiming that China is not a party to the Rome Statute.