Thai leader's official visit to China this week marks 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between two countries

The family was detained in Thailand in 2014 after fleeing increasing repression in their hometown in China's Xinjiang province. She and the children were allowed to leave Thailand a year later. But her husband remained in detention, along with 47 other Uyghur men. Niluper – not her real name – now fears she and her children may never see him again.

On January 22, 2025, several UN experts published a statement indicating that the Government of Thailand must immediately halt the possible transfer of 48 Uyghurs

Thailand has said it has no plan to deport the men from the mostly Muslim minority from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, who have been held at a Thai Immigration Detention Center since 2014 after attempting to escape Beijing’s persecution through Thailand.

US President Donald Trump's incoming secretary of state is among those calling for Thailand not to deport a group Uyghurs to China, where it is feared they would face persecution.

Thailand has no plan to deport 48 Uyghurs who have languished for more than a decade in detention, a government spokesman said on Thursday, dismissing speculation that the men were about to be sent back to China where rights groups say they would face the risk of torture.

China's President Xi Jinping met Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Beijing on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, as the two countries eye closer ties amid growing global uncertainties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked visiting Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Thursday for the "strong measures" her country has taken against scam centres targeting Chinese people.