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

The UN indicated Friday it was urging Thailand not to send dozens of detained Uyghurs to any country where they risk “significant” harm, after reported plans to deport them to China. Rights groups have warned that Bangkok is preparing to deport imminently a group of 48 members of China’s mostly Muslim Uyghur minority,

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

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.

The experts’ statement comes less than a week after Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said he would lobby Thailand against deporting the 48 Uyghurs to China during a hearing on his nomination for the post of U.S. secretary of state, which he was confirmed for on Monday.