Opinion: Thailand’s Deportation of Uyghurs to China Has Echoes of 10 Years Ago

Picture: Police enter an immigration detention centre in Bangkok on Jan. 22 | Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP via Getty Images

In this article by NPR, Jeffrey Wasserstorm asserts that Thailand’s recent actions toward sanctuary-seeking Uyghurs have closely paralleled their actions in 2015.

Some 300 members of the largely Muslim ethnic Uyghur community went to Thailand in 2014 to escape mistreatment by Chinese authorities in their homeland of Xinjiang, a territory in the northwestern corner of China. In July 2015, the Thai authorities sent 109 of them back to China. They did so even though Uyghurs and many human rights groups insisted that the Chinese government would treat them brutally. The action drew international condemnation.

Last month, in a move capable of triggering déjà vu, there was a replay of that scenario. This time, Thailand deported 40 Uyghurs to China, again garnering criticism from other countries, including the United States. 

The U.S., Canada and other nations say they had offered to take the refugees in, according to news reports this week. But Thailand’s deputy foreign minister said his country “could face retaliation from China” if it sent the Uyghurs to third countries instead.