The policy will apply to current and former foreign officials for deporting Uyghurs or members of other ethnic or religious groups with ‘protection concerns.’
The United States on March 14 announced visa restrictions on Thailand officials in response to the deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China, where the ethnic group has faced continued suppression.
The sanction came several weeks after Thailand sent back the 40 Uyghurs held in its custody for more than a decade. It applies to Thai officials responsible for the deportation decision, as well as other current and former foreign officials who played a part in deporting Uyghurs and other ethnic or religious groups with “protection concerns” to China.
“We are committed to combating China’s efforts to pressure governments to forcibly return Uyghurs and other groups to China, where they are subject to torture and enforced disappearances,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Thailand previously defended its decisions, saying that the Uyghurs were sent back in accordance with Thai and international law. However, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Russ Jalichandra acknowledged earlier this month that the return of Uyghurs was out of concern about possible retaliation from the Chinese regime.
“Thailand could face retaliation from China that would impact the livelihoods of many Thais,” Jalichandra said in a statement on March 6.
Even though some countries had offered to resettle the Uyghurs, the Thai government considered them “unrealistic,” he said, adding that deporting them to China was the “best option.”
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said it “strongly applauds Secretary Rubio and the State Department’s critical action to impose visa restrictions on those complicit in Beijing’s brutal campaign against Uyghurs and other persecuted groups.”
“Forced returns to China condemn individuals to prison, torture, and worse. Those who enable China’s atrocities must be held accountable,” a spokesperson for the committee told The Epoch Times.
State Department officials met several Uyghur groups on Friday before announcing the sanctions.
Rushan Abbas, executive director at Campaign for Uyghurs, said they had discussed sanctions during their meeting.
She said she had directly talked to the Uyghur men detained in Bangkok when she visited in late January and that the men were “unequivocal in their refusal to return to China.”
By Eva Fu and Dorothy Li
