Uyghurs in Thailand Stage Hunger Strike to Avoid Deportation to China

A group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for over a decade have initiated a hunger strike to prevent their deportation back to China, where they fear imprisonment and torture due to their ethnic identity. The Thai government has denied any plans for deportation despite rising tensions among the detainees.

In Bangkok, dozens of Uyghur men, who escaped repression in China but have been detained by Thai authorities for over a decade, are currently engaged in a hunger strike that has entered its second week. Starting on January 10, the protest was triggered by the delivery of “voluntary return” forms that the detainees were pressured to sign. All of them refused, fearing a repeat of events from 2015 when 109 Uyghurs were deported back to China, facing severe consequences.

The hunger strike aims to compel the Thai government to abandon any plans for deportation, as the men fear that returning to China would expose them to torture and imprisonment. The Thai authorities deny any intention to deport, arguing that no such hunger strike is occurring inside the detention centers.

One detainee reached out to a journalist and an activist, sharing his accounts via voice messages. These stories have been corroborated by family members and other sources familiar with the situation. The detainees lack adequate communication with the outside world, receiving only infrequent visits from a doctor.

The Uyghurs, who are Turkic-speaking Muslims primarily residing in Xinjiang, China, have faced intensified persecution since 2014 when Chinese authorities established extensive surveillance to suppress ethnic separatism. It is estimated that around one million Uyghurs and other minorities have been detained in internment camps, undergoing systematic oppression, including enforced birth control measures and indoctrination of children in state-run boarding schools.