PM Paetongtarn insists that China offered security guarantees and that no third countries desired prisoners.
Kritikers have criticized the Thai state for making claims that 40 Muslim prisoners had asked to return to China after being held there for more than a decade.
Due to concerns over safety, Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang released two letters written by the detainees, requesting assistance from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) and the international community to stop them from being handed over to China.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra received a second letter inquiring about their families ‘ reunification in Turkey.
The Fair Party senator, who previously worked for the UN refugee company, claimed the Uyghur people were being held in Bangkok’s Suan Phlu immigration detention facility while the three words with various deadlines were written.
The letters were posted on his social media accounts in opposition to Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai’s assertion that the Uyghurs were returning voluntarily to China to meet their families rather than “getting jailed in Thailand hopelessly”
According to Mr. Kannavee, the men’s letters clearly showed their desire to travel to third nations.
On Thursday morning, the 40 Uyghurs and eight Chinese nationals who were wanted for a variety of offences were flown back to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. The Thai decision has drawn criticism from the UNHCR and the US, among others.
Additionally, the US Embassy in Bangkok has issued a security alert to its citizens, warning that Thailand’s actions could lead to some kind of retaliatory attack. ( The story continues below )
On Thursday morning, a convoy of police trucks is seen leaving the Suan Phlu immigration detention center for Don Mueang airport with all windows shut off and Uyghur detainees inside. ( Photo: Kannavee Suebsang Facebook Page )
Lacks transparency
A Thai Senate committee claimed the repatriation was carried out without any accountability in a statement released on Friday.  ,
According to the committee on political development, public participation, human rights, and consumer protection, this would have a negative impact on the country’s reputation on the international stage.
It criticized Thai authorities for preventing them from meeting the detainees while they were languishing indefinitely.
No other nations had granted asylum to the Uyghurs in the ten years since they entered Thailand illegally, according to Ms. Paetongtarn, who stated on Friday that the government decided to send them back.
The men’s safety was assured by the Chinese government upon their return to China, according to the prime minister, and the procedure was carried out in accordance with international law.
Thailand “has carefully carried out the repatriation to ensure the safety of the returnees,” she said.
Inspection trip is planned
” Thailand should be commended for handling this issue,” said Mr. Phumtham, who is also the defense minister.
According to the government, periodic inspections are being conducted to ensure the safety of those who were returned, starting next week.
” This was done with goodwill and not with malicious intent,” the Thai government said. According to Mr. Phumtham, it is a good thing to let them go of detention so they can lead normal lives with their families, wives, and children.
The foreign minister will visit the Uyghurs ‘ returned to China, according to Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong.
” We will periodically conduct inspections, and we will go see for ourselves,” he said, adding that Thailand will make an effort to include journalists there as well.
Thailand’s second deportation of the Uyghurs in a ten years was a deportation. According to some diplomats and security analysts, the most extreme attack of its kind on Thai soil occurred in July 2015 when 109 Uyghurs were transferred to China and bombed a busy Bangkok shrine a month later, killing 20 people.
Without specifically linking the group to the Uyghurs, Thai authorities at the time came to the conclusion that the attack was connected to their crackdown on a human trafficking ring. Despite repeated delays, two ethnic Uyghur men were detained in connection with the attack and are currently awaiting trial.