Thailand repatriated 40 Chinese “illegal immigrants” on Thursday after human rights activists and a Thai media outlet reported that Thailand was deporting Uyghurs, who had been detained in Thailand for more than a decade. The men of the mostly Muslim minority from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China have been held at Thailand’s Immigration Detention Center since 2014, after attempting to escape Beijing’s persecution through Thailand.
A rights group said in early January that reports from the detained men indicated that Thai authorities were preparing to deport them but Thailand dismissed the concerns and said there was no plan to send them to China. “Forty Chinese nationals who illegally entered Thailand have been repatriated,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a briefing on Thursday when asked about reports that Thailand had deported the 48 Uyghurs.