Thailand urged to demand unrestricted access to Uyghur deportees during China visit News
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Thailand urged to demand unrestricted access to Uyghur deportees during China visit

Human Rights Watch urged Thailand to demand unrestricted access to the deported individuals and publicly address China’s treatment of Uyghurs on Tuesday. A Thai government delegation is visiting Xinjiang, China, from March 18 to 20, following international outrage over Thailand’s forced deportation of 40 Uyghurs in February.

Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, stressed the importance of transparency during this visit, stating, “The Thai delegation visiting Xinjiang shouldn’t take part in Chinese government choreography and image laundering, but instead report on how Uyghurs are really being treated.”

The spokesman of the Prime Minister’s Office, Jiaryu Huangsap revealed the Thai government’s plan to send a delegation to China and inspect the deportees on March 1. According to Thai Minister of Defense Phumtham Vejjayachai, the government is unsure how many deportees it is going to meet, telling the press that “the number shouldn’t be less than five.” However, when asked about the delegation, the Chinese foreign ministry said the delegation is a “normal friendly interaction” between the two states.

There have been condemnations coming from the UN and the US. On March 14, the US Department of State imposed new visa restrictions against Thai officials who are responsible for the forced returns of the Uyghurs. The Chinese foreign ministry opposed the sanction, criticizing the US for having a “double standard” – deporting “illegal immigrants” domestically but imposing sanctions on other sovereign states for doing the same.

The Thai Minister of Justice Tawee Sodsong maintained that the deportation is within its sovereignty and is coherent with Thailand’s international obligations. Sodsong added that the country faced criticism for over 11 years despite its efforts to improve the detention conditions.

China has long been accused of severe human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, including arbitrary detentions, mass surveillance, forced labor, and the suppression of religious and cultural practices. Since 2016, over one million Uyghurs have reportedly been detained in so-called “re-education” camps. China denied these allegations, claiming that the rule of law in China ensures all citizens, including the Uyghur population, enjoy economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.

THIS DAY @ LAW

March from Selma begins

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. began his third march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest racial discrimination in the Jim Crow South. By March 25, over 25,000 people led by Dr. King reached Montgomery, Alabama. Specifically, the march called attention to the suppression of African-American voting rights and a police assault on a civil rights demonstration three weeks prior. Five months later, in August 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. Read a history of the march from Selma to Montgomery.