Thailand weighs deporting two Uyghurs to China amid human rights fears
After forcibly deporting 40 Uyghurs to China last year, Thailand is now under pressure to deport two more men.
Two Uyghur men face deportation from Thailand to China. Human rights groups fear they will be tortured or disappear.
Last year, Thailand deported 40 Uyghur men; their whereabouts remain unknown. The men pleaded their case to Thailand's National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday, hoping to avoid the same fate.
One man's letter, shared by his girlfriend, expressed terror at returning to China: he would be 'like a slave', he wrote. The men were part of a group of more than 200 Uyghurs detained near Malaysia's border in 2014.
Women and children from that group have been released to Turkey. Men have been deported to China in batches, despite offers from the US and Canada to resettle them.
The UN has described such deportations as a potential crime against humanity.
- 2
- Men at current risk
- 40
- Deported last year
- more than 200
- Total detained since 2014
- 7 years
- Prison sentence served
Why it mattersDeportation could expose the men to torture and disappearance, as the UN says has likely happened to the 40 deported last year.
AustraliaNo direct effect on Australians, but the story signals China's regional power to pressure neighbouring governments to comply with Beijing.
