Thailand condemned for ‘shameful’ mass deportation of Uyghur refugees to China
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Amid claims that deportees may face torture, family of one man say he was forcibly repatriated and will never see his children again

The family of one of dozens of Uyghurs feared to have been forcibly deported from Thailand to China have condemned the decision as “shameful”.  
The deportations came despite a UN statement saying those being sent to China faced a “” on their return. Thailand said they had returned voluntarily “to their normal lives” with their families.

However, speaking to the Guardian, the family of one of those thought to have been deported said it was “impossible” that the men would want to be sent back to .

There has been exodus of Uyghurs from China’s Xinjiang region over the past decade, where China is accused of  including torture and the incarceration of an estimated 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China denies the accusations.

Aisha* who fled the country in 2014. While Aisha, who was pregnant with her second child, and her son made it to Turkey, her then husband was arrested and has been detained in  ever since.

“Who wants their family to be sent back to a place like that, with no freedoms and where everything is monitored by the government? It’s a lie.”

“There’s no way he or his family still living in China would have wanted him to return there. He just wanted to see his children again,” said Aisha.

Since arrest, Aisha said she has had no information from either the Chinese, Thai, or Turkish authorities about his fate. None of the people deported has yet been named, so she is still not certain if he has been sent back.

“It’s shameful for Thailand to send these people to China, even though the family and whole world knows it is an unsafe place for ,” she said.

“Everything China has done has been staged. The world should be more careful because after they are deported there is no way back.”

*Note: The family of the one of the Uyghurs mentioned here has not been named due to security concerns and their whereabouts are unknown.

In handwritten letters shared with the Guardian apparently from three other Uyghurs being held in Thailand, the detainees also pleaded not to be sent back to China.

They said they had been asked to sign a document consenting to be voluntarily repatriated but had refused to do so. Returning to China would mean imprisonment or death, one wrote.

Thailand said it had received reassurances from China that the deported Uyghurs would be cared for and not mistreated.

China’s embassy in Thailand said those who had been repatriated were illegal border crossers “not refugees”.

It said those who had returned would be assisted with reintegration into their former lives “as soon as possible” and would be given “employment support and vocational training”. Vocational training is a term which has been associated with the Chinese authorities’ detention camps and forced labour transfer programmes.

*Note: The name of the family member has been changed to preserve anonymity.*

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