{
  "id": 16073032,
  "title": "Thailand pardons two Chinese Uyghurs, prepares deportation",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/thailand-pardons-two-chinese-uyghurs-prepares-deportation",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-22T16:35:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/world/region/2026/10/1561649/thailand-pardons-two-chinese-uyghurs-prepares-deportation"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Bangkok - Two Chinese Uyghur men detained in Thailand have been granted royal pardons and are currently awaiting deportation, according to a Thai official and an activist. The men are among the final 300 Uyghurs held in Thailand in 2014, with nearly all having since been deported. Around 170 women and children were sent to Turkey in 2015, while two other groups were deported to China in 2015 and 2025, despite global criticism of the treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region of northwest China. The two pardoned men were transferred to Bangkok's Immigration Detention Centre on Wednesday, where they will be deported to China or another nation, pending the Thai government's decision. They arrived in Thailand in 2014 and were part of a group that attempted to escape detention in 2020, according to Kannavee Suebsang, a former Thai MP who previously worked for the UN Refugee Agency and now runs an NGO. Rights groups and Uyghurs worldwide claim that China has detained over a million Muslims, primarily Uyghurs, in a network of facilities in Xinjiang that are characterized by violence, torture, forced labor, political indoctrination, and other abuses. China denies these allegations, stating that its policies in Xinjiang have eliminated extremism and promoted development, and that the facilities were voluntary training centers that closed years ago.",
  "summary": "BANGKOK: Two Chinese Uyghur men detained in Thailand have received royal pardons and are awaiting deportation, a Thai official and an activist said on Thursday, though it was not yet clear where they will go.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}