The members of the Muslim group will face persecution, Washington saysUS hits Thai officials with visa sanctions over deportation of Uyghurs to ChinaUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Friday against officials from Thailand, a US ally, for their role in deporting at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where Washington says the members of the Muslim group will face persecution. Reuters reported this month that Canada and the United States offered to resettle 48 ethnic Uyghurs, but Bangkok feared upsetting China. Thailand responded on Saturday that it had received reassurances from China "over the safety of the Uyghurs and will continue to follow up on the well-being of this group." Murray Hiebert, an expert with the Southeast Asia program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he could not recall past US sanctions against Thai government officials. China denies allegations of abuse and forced labour toward Uyghurs, arguing it has established "vocational training centres" in recent years to curb terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism.

Source: bd News24 March 15, 2025 14:10 UTC