UN Experts Warn China’s Silence Deepens Fears Over Disappeared Uyghur Returnees

By Uyghur Times Staff
27 February 2026

GENEVA — United Nations human rights experts have expressed grave concern over 40 Uyghur Returnees forcibly returned to China by Thailand on 27 February 2025, warning that their fate and whereabouts remain unknown one year later.

The experts said Thailand deported the men under reported pressure from Beijing and without applying safeguards required under the international law principle of non-refoulement. The men had been detained for more than a decade at Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre in incommunicado conditions before their return.

“The disappearances reflect a broader pattern of transnational repression targeting ethnic and religious minorities,” the experts said. Families have reportedly received no confirmation of detention locations or proof that their relatives are alive.

The experts criticized China’s continued denial of independent and private access to detainees and warned that surveillance and intimidation of families create a climate of fear that obstructs accountability.

They urged China to guarantee the safety of the 40 men and grant independent monitors access, and called on Thailand and other States to end the forced return of Uyghurs to China.

“Denying legal access while intimidating families into silence creates an environment where serious human rights violations can unfold, unchecked,” they warned. “Silencing relatives not only deepens their suffering, but obstructs genuine accountability. Justice cannot be pursued in silence.”