UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk expressed deep concern over Thailand’s deportation of 40 ethnic Uighurs to China, calling it a violation of international human rights laws. “This violates the principle of non-refoulment for which there is a complete prohibition in cases where there is a real risk of torture, ill-treatment, or other irreparable harm upon their return,” Turk said in a statement on Thursday. The deported men, who were part of a larger group, had been detained in Thailand since March 2014 under poor conditions in a number of immigration detention facilities.
