CFU PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 27, 2025, 10:00 AM 

Contact: [email protected]

+1 650-703-4523

https://campaignforuyghurs.org

Washington, D.C. – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) strongly condemns the Thai government’s unconscionable action to repatriate 40 Uyghur refugees who were fleeing genocide at the request of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Today, on February 27, 2025, a flight departed at dawn from Bangkok, traveling directly to the Uyghur region, carrying the Uyghur men who have been detained for almost 11 years in Thai custody, despite offers from third countries to accept them. 

The deportation of Uyghur people into the hands of a genocidal regime is an unforgivable crime against humanity. Thailand’s action represents a flagrant disregard of the Convention against Torture, the international principle of non-refoulement, and its own Anti-torture law. Today is not only a national disgrace for Thailand but a moral collapse of the global community—history will remember this as a failure of humanity and democracy in the face of authoritarian cruelty.

CFU condemns the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for failing to protect Uyghur refugees. New Humanitarian revealed internal UNHCR memos advising against taking proactive steps for the situation and warning of risks to funding and support from China—an egregious betrayal of its mandate.   

Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of CFU, stated, “Today, marked a failure of humanity as 40 Uyghurs are delivered into the hands of their persecutors, who are committing genocide and crimes against humanity. Thailand, the UNHCR, and everyone who failed to act has chosen to side with tyranny and betrayed the most vulnerable. Every time the world allows the Chinese regime to violate international laws with impunity fuels our own destruction.”

Given the mounting international attention to the case, it is no surprise that the CCP will leverage the return to spread positive propaganda. The CCP has already released videos of Uyghur family reunions to project normalcy and whitewash the ongoing genocide. In stark contrast to the harrowing 2015 deportation footage—where Uyghurs were blindfolded, shackled, and assigned numbers—the CCP has taken extreme measures in 2025 to conceal its actions, including using blacked-out trucks and blocking roads.

The 109 refugees sent back in 2015 were forcibly disappeared, and their fate remains unknown. The future of the 40 Uyghurs involved is equally grim amid the ongoing genocide, with well founded fear of torture, long-term imprisonment, and death. 

CFU calls on the international community—including the United Nations, human rights organizations, and governments—to take immediate action to hold perpetrators accountable for violating international law. China must be condemned and sanctioned for its genocide and transnational repression against the Uyghur people. Thailand must face consequences for violating international law and sending innocent refugees back to the hands of their oppressors. The UNHCR must answer for its inaction, which facilitated this tragedy instead of preventing it. There must be justice, and those responsible must not escape accountability.