International pressure is mounting on Thailand – including from the new US administration – over the fate of dozens of Uyghur men held in detention for more than a decade, following reports the Thai government planned to deport the group to China.

On January 22, 2025, several UN experts published a statement indicating that the Government of Thailand must immediately halt the possible transfer of 48 Uyghurs

Dozens of men from the ethnic minority sought escape from repression in China a decade ago, but have been detained in Thailand ever since.

A group of Uyghurs who were detained in Thailand over a decade ago say that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back.

Thailand has no plan to deport 48 Uyghurs who have languished for more than a decade in detention, a government spokesman said on Thursday, dismissing speculation that the men were about to be sent back to China where rights groups say they would face the risk of torture.

Human rights advocates are demanding to know why the UN’s refugee agency hasn’t done more to secure the Uyghurs’ right to asylum.

The family was detained in Thailand in 2014 after fleeing increasing repression in their hometown in China's Xinjiang province. She and the children were allowed to leave Thailand a year later. But her husband remained in detention, along with 47 other Uyghur men. Niluper – not her real name – now fears she and her children may never see him again.