Bangkok: Thailand has said China must submit a formal extradition request if it wants two detained Uyghur men returned, amid growing concerns that they could face abuse or torture if sent back. The men have appealed against their return in letters made public last week.
Thailand's National Security Council chief, Chaipruak Doungprapat, said his agency would not decide on their deportation, unlike the case of 40 Uyghur men sent back to China in February 2025. He said the matter would go through the courts, where the two men would have an opportunity to defend themselves.
If the court rules in their favour, they could potentially be sent to another country for resettlement, he said.
“But if the court rules against them, they will be extradited according to the treaty. This is the judicial process,” Chaipruak said.
Human rights activists and some Thai politicians have raised concerns that the two men, who have been held in Thailand for more than a decade, could be sent back to China imminently. They were released from prison in late October and are currently being held at the Suan Plu immigration detention centre in Bangkok.
China has repeatedly sought the return of a group of about 300 Uyghurs detained by Thai authorities in 2014 while they were travelling towards the Thai-Malaysian border. Beijing has described them as terrorists.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that cooperation between China and Thailand in combating cross-border crimes, including illegal immigration, was in accordance with the laws of both countries, international law and international practice. She did not comment on whether Beijing had submitted an extradition request.
The two men, aged 26 and 35, wrote letters that were shared publicly last week. One of them, in a letter shared by Kannavee Suebsang, a former lawmaker and founder of the Peace Rights Foundation, which represents the men, wrote: “Every time we are worrying from China to take back us.”
“We aren't terrorist," the Uyghur man added.
Sasinan Thamnithinan, a lawmaker from the opposition People's Party, said on Tuesday that Thailand was obliged under domestic and international law to ensure that no individual was returned to a country where they could face torture or inhumane treatment.
“Maintaining international relations is important, but it must not take precedence over human rights and the rule of law. No one should be sent back to face danger simply because the government wants to end a problem,” Sasinan said in a statement.
Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim, Turkic ethnic group native to Xinjiang in north-western China. Following decades of tensions with Beijing over discrimination and the suppression of their cultural identity, the Chinese government launched a crackdown on the community that some Western governments have described as genocide.
The two men were among more than 300 Uyghurs detained by Thai authorities in 2014 while fleeing China near the Malaysian border.
Thailand subsequently sent a group consisting mostly of women and children to Türkiye. In 2015, it deported 109 of the remaining detainees to China against their will, triggering international condemnation. The Thai embassy in Türkiye was ransacked during protests over the deportations.
For more than a decade, the Thai government delayed a decision on the fate of those who remained in detention.
In February 2025, Thailand sent 40 Uyghur men back to China despite appeals from Thai lawmakers and United Nations officials not to deport them.