Good morning, distinguished members of Parliament.
My name is Yalkun Uluyol. Thank you for inviting me to this important session of the cross-party parliamentary league for human rights diplomacy. I am here on behalf of Human Rights Watch, where I serve as a researcher on China, which includes documenting the abuses against Uyghurs. I also am a Uyghur myself.
The main focus of my testimony today is on the events of last week in Thailand involving the forced transfer of at least 40 Uyghur men from a Bangkok immigration detention center to China.
The men are now at high risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and unjust imprisonment, primarily because they are Uyghurs who had fled China without government permission. Human Rights Watch and other groups have extensively documented how the Chinese government has carried out widespread and systematic abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, including mass arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, mass surveillance, cultural and religious persecution, separation of families, forced labor, sexual violence, and violations of reproductive rights. Many of these abuses amount to crimes against humanity.
Previously returned Uyghurs have faced persecution, and some are now serving long prison terms. Others have been subjected to abusive prison labor, and at least one died in prison due to lack of access to medical care.
The tragic results of last week's events began many years ago. To provide you with the context, their initial detention goes back to 2014 when Thai police arrested hundreds of Uyghur men, women, and children who had fled the increasingly repressive policies of the Chinese government in Xinjiang. Thailand charged them with immigration violations and transferred them to an immigration detention facility in Bangkok.
In July 2015, Thailand allowed about 170 of the Uyghur women and children to travel to the relative safety of Türkiye. But a week later, Thai authorities forcibly transferred over 100 Uyghur men to Chinese authorities in Thailand, and they were flown - hooded and in shackles - from Bangkok to China.
Dozens of Uyghur men, however, remained in indefinite detention for the next 10 years, while human rights groups, United Nations officials, and foreign embassies sought to have them processed as refugees and resettled-something Thailand refused to allow. At least three died while in detention under the squalid and overcrowded conditions at the detention center.
Thai authorities, under pressure from the Chinese government, did not allow the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) access to these men for more than 10 years, which effectively blocked their chances of resettling in a safe third country.
This January, the Uyghur men went on a hunger strike after hearing reports that they would shortly be sent to China. They resumed eating on January 29 after repeated assurances from Thai authorities that they would not be sent to China - promises that the Thai government would repeat, publicly, for weeks.
But the Thai government was evidently planning to do otherwise. The authorities violated Thailand's anti-torture law and the international legal obligation of non-refoulement ("non-return") by forcibly sending these men to China.
Since then, the Chinese government has tried to portray the forced return of these men as a family reunion, and the Thai government has played along. But once again, the Thai authorities are not being honest.
Thai authorities have claimed that no country offered to take these men over the past 10 years. This was untrue, and reports have emerged showingthat Canada and the United States had both offered to resettle them, an offer Thailand had refused, apparently under Chinese government pressure.
Both the Thai and Chinese governments insist the Uyghurs will not be punished, but neither country has the credibility to make such a claim.
Japan, together with other like-minded governments, should state clearly and forcefully to the Thai government that the forcible return of Uyghurs was not just a violation of domestic and international law, but that Thailand's credibility as a partner in the region has been severely undermined. Governments should call on those involved to be held accountable.
Human Rights Watch believes there are important things that can be done for the 40 Uyghur returnees. Japan, as well as Thailand and other governments, and UN agencies, should press for independent and unfettered access to the returnees and ensure their safety and well-being. The Chinese government should grant these requests.
Japan and like-minded governments should press the Thai government not to send the five other Uyghurs who remain in custody in Thailand to China. Japan should press Thai authorities to allow UNHCR to access these men so they can be resettled in safe third countries. Japan should also offer to serve as a resettlement location for the Uyghurs, even if temporarily.
Japan should also focus more on pressing for justice for the Chinese government's ongoing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. We are very thankful for the statement this parliamentary association published in June 2024 to encourage the Japanese government to take the lead in efforts for a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council condemning human rights violations in China. Japan eventually joined the statement delivered in October. We hope that Japan can continue to call on China to end its rights violations and further ask the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights to follow up on its landmark 2022 report on Xinjiang.
Further, Japan should hold those complicit in grave violations accountable. Japan should pass legislation to authorize targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, against people implicated in serious human rights violations. Japan should also introduce a human rights due diligence law that would require companies to address rights violations such as forced labor in their supply chains. We are very thankful that this parliamentary association has been advocating for these laws for years.
Japan should also start addressing transnational repression in Japan by recognizing the threat posed by the Chinese government's repression of nationals from China and taking steps to protect their basic rights by establishing a system for residents in Japan to report such incidents.
And finally, Japan should consider providing funding to exiled Uyghur civil society groups, some of them in Japan, to ensure that their work documenting and advocating for the rights of the Uyghurs can continue. Some of these groups were already suffering from the Chinese government's long-arm intimidation tactics, which have made it difficult for the groups to raise funds among their own community. The Trump administration's catastrophic freezing of US foreign assistance has also impacted these groups.
As a leading regional democracy, Japan should designate new funding for exiled civil society organizations that work on China and other rights-abusing Asian governments, to help ensure these groups continue working to promote human rights and rule of law in the region.
Thank you.
