By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday announced sanctions against officials from Thailand, a U.S. ally, for their role in deporting at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where Washington says the members of the Muslim group will face persecution.
The U.S. is “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,” the State Department said in a statement.
The move appeared intended to discourage Thailand and other countries from such deportations.
While the United States has imposed sanctions in the past on Thailand, including by suspending military aid after military coups, and has also targeted Thai individuals and companies for violating sanctions on third countries, a leading Southeast Asia expert said he could not recall sanctions on Thai government officials, who were not named in Rubio’s announcement.
Thailand’s February deportation of the Uyghurs, held in detention for a decade, came despite warnings from United Nations human rights experts that they were at risk of torture, ill-treatment and “irreparable harm” if returned.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Canada and the United States offered to resettle 48 ethnic Uyghurs, but Bangkok feared upsetting China.
“I am immediately implementing this policy by taking steps to impose visa restrictions on current and former officials for the Government of Thailand responsible for, or complicit in, the forced return of 40 Uyghurs from Thailand on February 27,” Rubio said in his statement.
“In light of China’s longstanding acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against Uyghurs, we call on governments around the world not to forcibly return Uyghurs and other groups to China,” Rubio said.
The restrictions could extend to family members of people sanctioned, the statement added.
Thailand has defended the deportations, saying that it acted in accordance with laws and human rights obligations. Its embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rubio’s announcement.
Murray Hiebert, a leading regional expert with the Southeast Asia program at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he could not recall past U.S. sanctions against Thai government officials.
He said Thailand can be very sensitive to criticism, but its reaction could be tempered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against countries with high trade surpluses with Washington.
“They might want to lay low,” he said. “They already have a target on their back by having the 11th largest trade surplus with the U.S. … it’s not clear Thailand is out of the woods yet when Trump imposes reciprocal tariffs in early April.”
Analysts say Washington has avoided taking tougher sanctions measures against Thailand in the past due to concerns that this might push its long-time ally closer to China.
The Washington-based Campaign for Uyghurs advocacy group commended Rubio’s move and the Trump administration in a statement, saying it “sends a strong message that those who enable the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) human rights abuses will face consequences for their crimes.”
Rubio, who was a staunch advocate for Uyghurs when he served as a U.S. senator, has reiterated that Beijing’s treatment of the group had amounted to “genocide and crimes against humanity,” a designation the U.S. first made in the waning hours of President Donald Trump’s first term in 2021.
China denies allegations of abuse and forced labor toward Uyghurs, arguing it had established “vocational training centers” in recent years to curb terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism.
(Reporting by Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
