Eight Uyghurs in Thailand Await Decision on Future
After 40 Uyghurs were deported to China from Thailand last month, a further eight Uyghurs who were part of the same group are now at risk of the same fate. Though they were not sent back to China with the rest of their group, the Thai and Chinese governments have made no comments about what will happen to them. Five of them are serving jail terms for crimes committed in detention.
The men were held in a Thai immigration detention center from 2014, when they attempted to flee China via Thailand. Originally a part of a larger group of 350 people, they were being held as illegal immigrants, rather than refugees. Of the others initially detained, 172 women and children were sent on to Turkey, while 109 people were sent back to China.
Thai Visit to Xinjiang
On March 19, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong visited Xinjiang to check on the state of the Uyghurs who were sent back.
Phumtham denied that the reactions of people they met were staged. “They are not Hollywood actors who can cry on command. When we arrived, their eyes welled up with tears. When asked if they were happy, their emotions overflowed naturally,” he said, adding that the Thai ambassador would continue to monitor the situation.
In the Thai parliament, opposition lawmaker Kannavee Suebsaeng criticized the deportation and the subsequent visit. “The deportation of the Uyghurs was slammed internationally. It is bad enough when you lie in Thailand. It is even worse when you lie on the international stage,” he said.
One Thai journalist who went with the delegation to Xinjiang said they had photos checked and deleted before they were allowed to return to Thailand.
Radio Free Asia Closure
Fifty-seven Uyghur Organizations, alongside the World Uyghur Congress, have co-signed a statement expressing concern “with the prospect of closure of the only independent voice of the Uyghur people in the world — the Uyghur Service at Radio Free Asia.”
“The decision to cut RFA Uyghur Service’s funding not only undermines America’s role as a defender of democracy and free speech but also gives China more power to shape global narratives in its favor, particularly against the U.S,” the statement said, referring to Radio Free Asia by its acronym.
Radio Free Asia has had its funding cut as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to cut back on state spending abroad. A presidential order targeted funding for Radio Free Asia’s parent company, the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Human Rights Watch Urges Release of Taiwanese Publisher
Human Rights Watch has urged Chinese authorities to quash the conviction of Taiwan publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀). Imprisoned in China since 2023, when he traveled to Shanghai from Taiwan, he was secretly sentenced to three years in prison in February. He was charged with “inciting secession” for his role as editor-in-chief of Taiwanese Gusa Publishing, which has published books critical of the Chinese government.
Canadian Executions
Four Canadian citizens were executed in China on drug charges earlier this year, according to the Canadian government. Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, said that high-level Canadian officials had lobbied for the executions to be stopped, but had not been successful. Addressing the issue, China’s foreign ministry said it had acted “in accordance with the law” and called on the Canadian government not to make “irresponsible remarks.”
Acid Spill at Zambian River
A group of environmental justice organisations has urged the Zambian government to prosecute three Chinese companies responsible for environmental crimes after a number of acid spills at the start of this year.
There has been a “pattern of gross corporate negligence and inadequacies in environmental compliance, oversight and enforcement,” the group said, while calling for urgent reforms of the mining sector, which is rapidly expanding in the country.
In total, four copper mining companies — one British and three Chinese — have been accused of releasing toxic mining waste into the Kafue River. Authorities said the largest spill could affect millions of people because pollution was detected at least 100 kilometers downstream.
London Embassy
A decision on whether or not to give the go-ahead for a large new Chinese embassy in London is expected to be made by the U.K. Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner by May. The proposed embassy has sparked protests at its potential London location, with Hong Kong rights groups, Tibetans, Uyghurs and local residents suggesting that it could be used for surveillance.
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