Three Uyghur Men detained in Thai Prison Freed After 10 Years, Resettled in Canada

Three Uyghur men detained in Thailand for over a decade resettled in Canada in April 2025, avoiding deportation to China amid ongoing fears of torture and persecution.

By Tahir Imin
April 2025

Rare Resettlement Amid Tragedy

Three Uyghur men who endured more than ten years of harsh immigration detention in Thailand were quietly resettled in Canada during April 2025, Thai lawmakers and human rights activists confirmed. The transfer occurred around Thailand’s Songkran festival period, representing a rare instance of protection for Uyghur refugees after years of international pressure. 

This positive development stands in sharp contrast to Thailand’s February 2025 forced deportation of 40 Uyghur men to China, where deportees face grave risks of torture, enforced disappearance, indefinite detention in internment camps, forced labor, and death as part of China’s ongoing genocide against Uyghurs.

Sameer Zuberi, the Canadian Member of Parliament who introduced Motion M-62 authorizing the Canadian government to resettle 10,000 Uyghurs in Canada, said on X:

“Today, I met deeply vulnerable Uyghurs who recently arrived in Canada, now in safety and security.It was a moving experience after years of advocacy and the unanimous passage of my motion, M-62, in the House of Commons, to resettle 10,000 Uyghurs from third countries.”

Flight from Persecution and Prolonged Detention

The three men were part of a group of approximately 300 Uyghurs who fled severe repression in East Turkistan (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) and entered Thailand in March 2014, seeking safety and onward resettlement. 

Thai authorities immediately detained the entire group on immigration violations, separating men from women and children. While roughly 173 individuals—mostly women and children—were eventually allowed to travel to Turkey in 2015 following UNHCR intervention, the men remained in prolonged arbitrary detention, primarily at Bangkok’s Suan Plu Immigration Detention Center. 

Conditions were consistently reported as inhumane, characterized by severe overcrowding, inadequate medical care, poor sanitation, malnutrition, and complete lack of due process or legal remedies.

Deaths in Custody and Earlier Deportations

Over the decade-long detention, at least five Uyghurs from the original group—including some children—died in Thai custody due to medical neglect and the brutal conditions. 

In July 2015, Thailand carried out the forced deportation of 109 Uyghur men to China in a secretive operation involving hooding, shackling, and an unscheduled flight—sparking widespread global condemnation from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Uyghur advocacy groups. 

The February 2025 deportation of an additional 40 men followed a nearly identical pattern: a nighttime operation using blacked-out vans and a direct flight to Kashgar, executed despite urgent pleas from the UN, the United States, Canada, the European Union, and multiple governments to halt the returns and permit third-country resettlement.

Key Factor: Dual Citizenship and Documentation

The three men successfully resettled in Canada held dual Kyrgyz and Chinese citizenship and possessed valid Kyrgyz passports at the time of their 2014 entry into Thailand. 

Unlike the majority of the detained group, who were treated exclusively as Chinese nationals without alternative identity documents, these men were able to engage with UNHCR refugee status determination processes. Their Kyrgyz passports and absence of Chinese national ID cards at the point of arrest proved decisive in shielding them from deportation to China. 

Thai lawmaker Kannavee Suebsang and activist Chalida Tajaroensuk publicly confirmed the quiet resettlement, describing it as evidence that third-country solutions remain achievable when political will, diplomatic coordination, and international advocacy align.

International Condemnation and Failed Interventions

Human rights organizations—including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Human Rights Office, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International—have repeatedly condemned Thailand’s treatment of Uyghur detainees, citing clear violations of the principle of non-refoulement, denial of fair hearings, and deliberate exposure to persecution. 

Both the United States and Canada had previously offered formal resettlement places for the remaining detainees, with repeated diplomatic appeals made before the 2025 deportations. Despite these interventions, Thailand proceeded with the forced returns, reportedly influenced by deepening bilateral ties and economic pressures from Beijing.

Remaining Detainees at Grave Risk

As of April 2025, only five Uyghur men from the original 2014 group remain in Thai custody, currently serving prison sentences imposed for escape attempts from immigration detention facilities. 

Advocates express profound concern that these individuals face imminent risk of deportation to China upon completing their terms, potentially subjecting them to the same fate as those already returned: placement in so-called “re-education” camps, forced labor transfer programs, enforced disappearance, or execution.

Calls for Immediate Protection and Accountability

Uyghur diaspora organizations, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and international human rights monitors continue to press the Thai government to grant immediate and unrestricted access to UNHCR representatives, cease any further forced returns, and facilitate safe third-country resettlement for the remaining detainees.