Thailand defends its deportation decision. This is because it states that it imposes official complex visa restrictions on deportation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against an unidentified number of Thai officials in order to deport at least 40 Uyghurs to China last month.
Rubio said in a statement Friday that he was immediately responsible for deportation or imposing visa restrictions on current and former officials who are complicit in employees. No Thai officials have been named.
For many years, China has been accused of widespread abuse, including the massive detention of Uyghurs, a minority of around 10 million Muslims in the Xinjiang region. Beijing rejects these claims.
“We are committed to combating China’s efforts to pressure the government to force Uighurs and other groups back to China.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it made its clarification on multiple occasions in countries that have communicated concerns about the safety of men who have ensured that China is unharmed and that Thailand will follow up on their well-being.
“Thailand has always supported a long tradition of humanitarianism, in particular, for over half a century, providing and continuing support for displaced people from various countries,” the ministry said in a statement.
Thai Defense Minister and Justice Minister said they are planning a trip to visit Chinese men next week. Many Thai journalists were invited to participate.
In 2014, more than 300 Uyghurs were detained from China, which had been fled by Thai authorities. By February, 48 Uighurs remained in Thai detention when authorities prepared to send them back to China despite calls from Thai lawmakers and international officials.
Rubio condemned the return “on the strongest possible conditions,” saying in China “Uyghurs faced persecution, forced labor and torture.”
In a Facebook post, the Chinese embassy in Bangkok said that 40 Chinese citizens who were “smuggled” had been deported to Xinjiang on a charter flight and “go home more than a decade later and reunited with their families.”
Rubio is a longtime critic of Beijing, and he was twice approved by the Chinese government in 2020 for his support of the rights of the Uyghur people and people in Hong Kong.
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