The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok is warning Americans of potential ‘violent retaliatory attacks’ Friday after a group of 45 Uyghurs were deported by Thailand to China in a move Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned in the ‘strongest possible terms.’
Thai police and security officials said China had given assurances that the men — who had been in custody for more than a decade — wouldn’t face penalties or be harmed. They said at a news conference Thursday that all of them voluntarily returned after being shown a translation of a written Chinese agreement requesting their repatriation and declaring they would be allowed to live normally.
‘Similar deportations have prompted violent retaliatory attacks in the past,’ the U.S. Embassy warned though on Friday. ‘Most notably, in the wake of a 2015 deportation of Uyghurs from Thailand, improvised explosive devices detonated at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok killing 20 people and injuring 125 others as this shrine is heavily visited by tourists from China.’
The Embassy is now encouraging Americans in Thailand to ‘exercise increased caution and vigilance, especially in crowded locations frequented by tourists due to the potential for increased collateral risk.’
Rubio slammed the deportations Thursday, describing it as a ‘forced return of at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where they lack due process rights and where Uyghurs have faced persecution, forced labor, and torture.’
‘As Thailand’s longstanding ally, we are alarmed by this action, which risks running afoul of its international obligations under the U.N. Convention Against Torture and the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,’ Rubio continued. ‘This act runs counter to the Thai people’s longstanding tradition of protection for the most vulnerable and is inconsistent with Thailand’s commitment to protect human rights.’
‘We urge all governments in countries where Uyghurs seek protection not to forcibly return ethnic Uyghurs to China,’ he added.
‘We call on Chinese authorities to provide full access to verify the well-being of the returned Uyghurs on a regular basis,’ Rubio also said. ‘The Thai Government must insist and fully verify continuously that Chinese authorities protect the Uyghurs’ human rights.’
Thai lawmakers, activists and lawyers had raised the alarm Wednesday that the men were about to be deported, and after midnight, trucks with black sheets covering their windows left Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Center, where they had been held, according to the Associated Press.
The news agency reported that it appeared the truck drove them to Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport, where a China Southern Airlines plane was waiting, and then flew to the heartland of China’s Uyghur population in northwestern Xinjiang province.
In a statement on Facebook, the Chinese Embassy acknowledged Thursday that 40 Chinese nationals who it said entered Thailand illegally were deported to Xinjiang by a chartered flight.
It said the men had been detained in Thailand for more than 10 years because of ‘complicated international factors.’
The Associated Press contributed to this report.