Thailand said Thursday there are no longer any Uyghurs stranded in its immigration facilities following the internationally criticized repatriation of 40 Uyghur men to China in late February, in an apparent move to put an end to the confusion over the total number of detainees. Thailand put the men on a plane to Xinjiang on Feb. 27, saying China had given assurances that they would not be mistreated and no third country had committed to take them. They were part of a larger group who had been held at an immigration detention center in Bangkok since escaping China’s persecution in 2014.
“40 [Uyghurs] had been sent to China, while three had died, one in 2018 and two in 2023, leaving no Uyghurs remaining in immigration detention,” Thailand’s Police Col. Watcharaphon Kanchanakan, told a court hearing, without elaborating.