*Thailand deports Uyghur asylum seekers to China after more than a decade in detention* Thailand has deported some 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China after detaining them for more than a decade, UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, said on 27 February. “This is a clear violation of the principle of non-refoulement and the Royal Thai Government’s obligations under international law,” Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, the agency’s assistant high commissioner for protection, said in a statement. The deportation represents a major blow to human rights activists who have been calling for the group’s release. A Thai court had agreed on 18 February to consider a petition to free the men and was planning to call Thai immigration officials to testify. “This is a big, big violation of human rights,” Chalida Tajaroensuk, director of the People’s Empowerment Foundation, told The New Humanitarian. Chinese state media reported that “40 Chinese nationals involved in illegal immigration” had been repatriated from Thailand in a “joint crackdown on cross-border crime”. Amid a crackdown on separatist movements, the Chinese government has been accused of widespread abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in western China, including mass detention in reeducation camps. Thailand’s National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment. Read full story: ⬇️ https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/02/27/thailand-deports-uyghur-asylum-seekers-china-after-more-decade-detention