Thailand's deportation of Uyghurs was to avert China 'retaliation', minister says

By Panu Wongcha-um

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China last week was in the Southeast Asian country's best interest due to the possibility of retaliation from Beijing if the group was sent elsewhere, a Thai minister said on Thursday.

Thailand's government has repeatedly defended the secretive deportation, which came despite calls from United Nations human rights experts who said the Uyghurs would be at risk of torture, ill-treatment and "irreparable harm" if returned to China.

Human rights groups accuse China of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority numbering about 10 million in its northwestern region of Xinjiang. Beijing denies any abuses.

Russ Jalichandra, Thailand's vice minister for foreign affairs, in a statement on Thursday said some countries had offered to resettle the Uyghurs, walking back previous comments by Thai officials that no such proposals had been made.

He did not name the countries.

The United States, Canada and Australia were among countries that had offered to resettle the Uyghurs but Bangkok took no action for fear of upsetting China, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

But the offers from third countries were "unrealistic" as resettling the Uyghurs would not shield Thailand from a potential fallout with China, Russ said.

"Thailand could face retaliation from China that would impact the livelihoods of many Thais," he said, adding that sending the group to China was the "best option".

Russ did not elaborate on the possible retaliation.  

China's foreign ministry and its embassy in Bangkok did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the vice minister's remarks about retaliation. 

The Chinese foreign ministry told Reuters this week that the individuals Thailand sent back were Chinese nationals who were illegal migrants and the process was carried out in accordance with Chinese, Thai and international laws.

The 40 Uyghurs deported last week were part of a group of 300 who fled China and were arrested in Thailand in 2014. Some were sent back to China and others to Turkey, with the rest remaining in Thai custody for over a decade.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um, Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal, Martin Petty)