US sanctions Thai officials for deporting Uyghurs to China

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday announced visa sanctions against Thai government officials involved in last month’s deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China, where they likely face torture as part of what American officials call an ongoing “genocide.”

The men had been held in immigration detention in Thailand since escaping China’s persecution in 2014. The Thai government’s decision to return them to China on Feb. 27 was criticized by the United States, European Union, United Nations and global human rights groups.

Rubio said the U.S. visa bans will apply to Thai officials “responsible for, or complicit in, the forced return of Uyghurs” to China, where he said “they are subject to torture and enforced disappearances.”

“In light of China’s longstanding acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against Uyghurs, we call on governments around the world not to forcibly return Uyghurs and other groups to China,” Rubio said in a statement issued by the U.S. State Department.

The statement also said some family members of the officials may be banned from traveling to the United States under the blacklisting.

The State Department did not respond to an inquiry from Radio Free Asia about how many officials would be subjected to the ban. Officials at the department routinely decline to identify the names of those hit with visa bans, citing U.S. immigration laws around privacy.

The United States has since 2021 described China’s persecution of the mostly Muslim ethnic Uyghurs as a “genocide,” leveling accusations of torture, forced sterilization and slavery against Chinese officials.

Beijing rejects the claims and says it only promotes development and vocational training in far-western Xinjiang, where most Uyghurs live.

Close alliance

The deportation of the Uyghurs and the visa sanctions is a rare case of acrimony between longtime allies in the United States and Thailand.

In the days after the Feb. 27 deportation, a State Department official confirmed to RFA that U.S. diplomats offered to resettle the Uyghurs either in the United States or a third country, while a Thai opposition lawmaker said Australia and Sweden also made similar offers.

Thai Vice Foreign Minister Russ Jalichandra eventually acknowledged that such offers had been made but said that Bangkok had finally agreed to return the Uyghurs to China to avoid inevitable “retaliation from China that would impact the livelihoods of many Thais.”

Rubio had said during his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 15 that he believed he could use America’s close historical relationship with Thailand to ensure the Uyghurs were not returned to Thailand.

“The good news is that Thailand is actually a very strong U.S. partner, a strong historical ally as well, and so that is an area where I think diplomacy could really achieve results, because of how important that relationship is and how close it is,” Rubio said at that time.

World Uyghur Congress executive committee chair Rushan Abbas welcomed Friday’s visa bans, saying the move sent a clear warning to other governments that “they will face consequences” for working with China to return escaped Uyghurs.

“This announcement is a critical step in holding those complicit in these egregious forced deportations accountable,” Abbas told RFA.

“For Uyghurs, forced return to China is tantamount to a death sentence, exposing them to torture, forced labor and enforced disappearances,” she said. “This policy delivers a strong message that aiding China’s crimes will not go unpunished.”

Edited by Malcolm Foster.