On January 22, 2025, several UN experts published a statement indicating that the Government of Thailand must immediately halt the possible transfer of 48 Uyghurs

International pressure is mounting on Thailand – including from the new US administration – over the fate of dozens of Uyghur men held in detention for more than a decade, following reports the Thai government planned to deport the group to China.

Human rights advocates are demanding to know why the UN’s refugee agency hasn’t done more to secure the Uyghurs’ right to asylum.

BANGKOK: Thai authorities denied on Wednesday (Jan 22) there was an immediate plan to send back to China 48 Uyghurs held in the country's detention centres, after UN experts warned the group could face torture if they return.

Authorities in Thailand on Wednesday denied there was an immediate plan to send back to China 48 Uyghurs held in the Southeast Asian country's detention centers after United Nations experts warned that the group could face torture if they return.

The experts’ statement comes less than a week after Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said he would lobby Thailand against deporting the 48 Uyghurs to China during a hearing on his nomination for the post of U.S. secretary of state, which he was confirmed for on Monday.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Thailand to immediately stop the planned deportation of 48 Uyghurs to China, citing serious risks of torture and inhumane treatment.

The family was detained in Thailand in 2014 after fleeing increasing repression in their hometown in China's Xinjiang province. She and the children were allowed to leave Thailand a year later. But her husband remained in detention,

As 48 detained Uyghurs remain trapped in a prolonged state of uncertainty and fear in Thailand, Rushan Abbas, Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs, alongside members of the Japan Uyghur Association,