**Hunger Strike by Detained Uyghurs in Thailand Highlights Ongoing Persecution Fears**

More than a decade after fleeing persecution in China, Uyghur detainees in Thailand have staged a hunger strike in fear of imminent deportation, seeking to pressure the Thai government amid claims of rights violations by Chinese authorities.**

Dozens of Uyghur men, who sought refuge from persecution in their native China, have entered a hunger strike at a Bangkok immigration detention center. This action, now in its second week, is a desperate plea to the Thai government to prevent their potential deportation to China, where they fear torture and imprisonment.

The hunger strike began on January 10, following a disturbing incident where the men were asked to complete “voluntary return” forms. Most detainees refused to sign these documents and were subsequently told to pose for photographs— a situation reminiscent of similar events that preceded a mass deportation of Uyghurs to China in 2015.

Despite the detainees' fears, Thai authorities have publicly stated that there are no immediate plans to deport them and denied the occurrence of a hunger strike at the facility. Nonetheless, a detainee managed to communicate details of their plight to external activists and journalists. The detainees reported a lack of outside contact, with limited medical assistance available.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnic group from Xinjiang, China’s far-western region, which has been under severe surveillance since 2014 as part of the Chinese government's campaign against alleged ethnic separatism. By detaining over a million Uyghurs and others in a network of internment camps and prisons, the Chinese government has faced international condemnation for its human rights abuses.

As the hunger strike continues, the situation raises urgent questions about the treatment of Uyghurs in Thailand and the broader implications of China’s stringent policies toward its minority populations.