Former MP Kannavee Suebsang has urged the Thai government not to return the five remaining Uyghur detainees to China, citing two letters allegedly written by Uyghurs held at Klong Prem Central Prison who say they fear persecution and do not wish to be sent back.
In a Facebook post on 31 October 2026, Kannavee published a statement titled “A Plea to Let the Uyghur Refugees Live”, calling on Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the National Security Council (NSC) to consider the detainees’ wishes and the risks they could face if returned to China.
The content of the letter are as follow:
Don’t replay the same old movie !! Don’t push Uyghur refugees back to face danger again !! A letter from Uyghur refugees in Thai custody !! People will probably say, “Here comes Kannavee again, bringing out letters from Uyghur refugees !!”
Do you remember what happened last time ?? Both before and after the no-confidence debate in 2025, I was hit by a full-blown pile-on. They said the letter was in the wrong envelope, that I had made it up, and that the Corrections Department’s stamp and watermark could not have been on paper from an Immigration Bureau detention facility.
One after another, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security, the Foreign Minister, the Justice Minister, and the Immigration Bureau spokesperson came at me without holding back. They were determined to accuse me of presenting a fake letter !!
Why did they have to do that ?? Let me explain first: if the letter I presented was fake, then it would contradict the claim made by the government at the time—that all 40 Uyghurs wanted to return to China of their own accord. The letter I presented said that none of the 40 wanted to return to face danger in China. They were asking: “Could you please send us to a third country” !!
That was one of the main reasons the government at the time came out fighting and did everything it could to insist that the letter I showed our media friends was fake. Another reason was that the 40 Uyghurs had already been sent back to China, so no one could come forward to confirm it !!
To this day, no one knows where those 40 people are. China has not allowed anyone to visit them. But what we did see was that, after they were sent back, a Deputy Prime Minister went to China, embraced the refugees and their relatives, and staged a “morality play” to show that they were living happily. They managed to do this with only three people, then said the others were thousands of kilometres away and could not be reached !!
This is terrible. If, as that government claimed, they returned voluntarily and the process followed international standards, then you had to conduct return monitoring !! That means going back to see how they were reintegrating into their country of origin. But, as I said, the government were politicians who did not understand humanitarian work, so all they could manage was a “morality play” !!
Today, I am bringing out another letter—from the Uyghurs still in Thailand. This time, let’s be clear: two letters from Uyghur refugees detained at Klong Prem Central Prison convey the same message unmistakably. They do not want to return to China because they fear persecution and danger to their lives !!
One letter, written in 2022, says that if the writer returned to China, they and their parents might face the death penalty, and their relatives might be arrested !! Another letter, written in 2026, says that the writer is willing to remain in detention but does not want to return to China. This is not something the government can brush aside by saying they “voluntarily returned” or are “living comfortably back home” !!
When I showed the letters from the 40 people last time, I was accused of making things up and presenting fake letters. Today, the letters passed on to me by their family members, who have given me permission to use them, show that the voices of those in detention are real !! Their fear is not something the government can simply choose not to hear !!
The same old movie is about to play again, even though the government and the cast have changed. Prime Minister Anutin himself was part of the previous government when that return took place. Now that the refugee issue is being discussed at government level, don’t let diplomacy become a way of closing our eyes to the risks facing human beings !!
China has already expressed its wish to take back the five remaining Uyghurs. China approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of August this year. The Thai Foreign Ministry gave a good response to China’s request, saying that the decision rests with the relevant authorities and that, where humanitarian concerns are involved, the individuals’ wishes must also be taken into account.
I want to see this principle applied in practice: listen to the refugees independently, assess the risks comprehensively, and do not send anyone back to face danger or disappear again !!
But !! China has not stopped there. The Chinese Embassy met with the Secretary-General of Thailand’s National Security Council on 27 October 2026. I believe they were discussing preparations for the Chinese Prime Minister’s visit to Thailand this November. And I am sure the Uyghurs’ return to China was also slipped into the conversation !!
I understand that a National Security Council meeting is likely to take place next week. They will probably discuss three main security issues, and the Uyghur issue may be among them. So I ask Prime Minister Anutin, as chair of the meeting: listen to all sides. Don’t simply agree with everything the Secretariat puts forward. Consider both international and domestic law, including non-refoulement—the customary principle in international practice against returning people to danger—the Convention against Torture (CAT), Thailand’s 2022 Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, and relevant regulations, such as the Prime Minister’s Office Regulation on Deportation provisions concerning resettlement. Please consider them without delay.
And, most importantly, do not forget international politics and the shifting geopolitics in which Thailand is situated, and the influence they exert over different issues. We have to know how to play the game !!
A country has already expressed its willingness to resettle them. The individuals themselves do not want to return to China and wish to be resettled elsewhere. We already have the rules and regulations in place. Now it is up to the executive branch to decide: does it dare to act, or is it afraid of someone ??
Before making a decision, imagine they were our own relatives. Would we let anyone send them back when they have clearly written that they do not want to go ??
Stay tuned to see whether the “Letter Pleading for the Uyghur Refugees to Be Allowed to Live” can truly help keep them alive ??
P.S. Both letters are being used for public purposes with the consent of the relatives and the people who hold them.
