“Shocking Human Betrayal”: Thailand Breaks Its Promises, Hands Over 40 Uyghurs to China

The news circulating on February 26 about the Thai government extraditing Uyghurs who had been detained for many years to China has caused shock and deep sadness among Uyghurs in exile.

Information about the Thai government's intention to hand over detained Uyghurs to China had been spreading for several days, with reports of several buses arriving at the detention center, journalists being prevented from approaching or taking pictures, as well as information indicating a plane had departed from Bangkok to Kashgar.

As fears were escalating about Thailand possibly extraditing Uyghurs to China, on the morning of February 27, the official Chinese Xinhua News Agency published a report about the return of 40 Chinese citizens who had been detained in Thailand. Although the news did not mention their status or ethnic affiliation, Uyghur communities in Turkey confirmed they were Uyghurs. Islamic communities in Thailand also informed the East Turkistan Scholars Union about the extradition of detained Uyghurs to China.

The Thai government has now acknowledged extraditing 40 Uyghurs to China, indicating that this procedure was carried out in cooperation between the Thai National Security Council and the Royal Police. They also reported that eight Uyghurs remain detained for violating Thai law.

Unlike what happened ten years ago, China focused on false propaganda in this extradition process, trying to create a fabricated scene portraying the Uyghurs as "returning to their homeland to reunite with their families" in an attempt to mislead the world. At a press conference today, the Thai Ministry of Defense showed a short video sent by China, showing only one Uyghur person disembarking from the plane and embracing his mother.

According to available information, Thai security forces began a surprise operation on the evening of February 26, surrounding the detention center where the Uyghurs were held. To execute the operation secretly, they even detained the center's employees in a separate location for ten hours and confiscated their phones. The court proceedings related to the Uyghurs have now been canceled.

The Thai government's decision to extradite Uyghurs to China despite various efforts and international pressure has caused great shock and sadness among the East Turkistan people in exile and human rights organizations. Uyghurs around the world have expressed their anger and resentment toward the Chinese and Thai governments in various ways. Uyghurs residing in Turkey organized a protest demonstration on February 27 in front of the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul and the Chinese Embassy in Ankara.

At the Istanbul demonstration, the President of the East Turkistan Scholars Union, Dr. Alimjan Bugda, spoke first, reminding people of China's genocide in East Turkistan. He pointed out that the Thai government is cooperating with China's crimes and will certainly be held accountable for that.

Then Abdul Rashid Amin Haji, Secretary-General of the World Union of East Turkistan Organizations, and Ms. Fildan Kadi Oglu from the East Turkistan Human Rights Watch Association spoke.

In their speeches, they emphasized that the Thai government extradited the Uyghurs to China despite repeated warnings from international human rights organizations and Uyghur organizations in exile, that the Islamic world had not made an effort in this issue, and that there are no Islamic countries among the signatories to the letter prepared against Thailand regarding not extraditing Uyghurs to China. They stressed that Thailand will certainly be held accountable for its actions, and that it had not only assaulted 40 Uyghurs but had violated humanity itself.

Sheikh Mahmoud Jan, the representative of the East Turkistan Scholars Union, concluded the event, calling on Uyghurs in exile to turn this adversity into positive energy and continue to intensify their efforts in resisting the Chinese occupation.

Another group of Uyghurs gathered in front of the Thai Embassy in Ankara and organized a protest demonstration, expressing their anger at Thailand's crime of extraditing Uyghurs to China.