Thailand said on Wednesday (November 4, 2026) that China must make a formal extradition request if it wants two Uyghur men returned, in response to growing concerns and fears of abuse or torture if they are returned. The two men, in letters shared last week, pleaded not to be sent back to China.
After decades of conflict with Beijing over discrimination and suppression of their cultural identity, the Chinese government launched a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs that some Western governments have called a genocide. “Maintaining international relations is important, but it must not take precedence over human rights and the rule of law. Uyghurs are a Turkic, majority Muslim ethnic group native to Xinjiang in China’s northwest.
Sasinan Thamnithinan, a lawmaker from the Opposition People’s Party, said on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) that Thailand is obligated by both domestic and international law to ensure that no individual is returned to a country where they could face torture or inhumane treatment. Because the government wants to end a problem,” Ms, no one should be sent back to face danger simply.
Sasinan said in a statement.
If the court rules in their favour, it’s possible for them to be sent to another country for resettlement. Ms. Mao didn’t comment on whether China had sent an extradition request.
Thailand’s head of the National Security Council Chaipruak Doungprapat said his agency will not make a decision on their deportation, unlike the case of 40 Uyghur men who were sent back to China last year . The two men, a 26-year-old and a 35-year-old, wrote letters that were then shared publicly last week.
He said the process will go through the courts and the men will be able to defend themselves. “But if the court rules against them, they will be extradited according to the treaty. This is the judicial process,” he said. “Every time we are worrying from China to take back us,” one of them wrote in a letter shared by Kannavee Suebsang, a former lawmaker and founder of the Peace Rights Foundation, a human rights group that represents the men. “We aren’t terrorist,” the Uyghur man wrote.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday said “China and Thailand’s cooperation in combating cross-border crimes, including illegal immigration, is in accordance with the laws of both countries, as well as international law and international practice.
