Thailand and Turkey plans to deport Uyghur asylum seekers and refugees to China, according to recent overseas.

The East Turkistan Government (Uyghur) in Exile has strongly condemned the move, calling it a “direct violation of international law,” according to The Tribune.

The Government in Exile says the move will affect both countries and make them “complicit in enabling ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people”.

“For over 13 years, 48 Uyghur asylum seekers have been unjustly detained in Thailand under inhumane conditions. Turkey, once a sanctuary for Uyghurs fleeing genocide, is detaining and threatening to deport dozens, possibly many more, of Uyghur refugees, putting them at grave risk of persecution,” the government said.

It said that East Turkistan is “not a part of China, but rather a nation under Chinese colonial occupation.”

“Deporting Uyghurs to the Chinese regime would subject them to imprisonment, torture, forced labour, and even execution,” the exiled government said.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile urged the United Nations and other democratic nations, to protect Uyghur refugees.

It called for the “facilitation of their asylum and resettlement” in countries that could offer them safety.

The statement warned that failing to act would “embolden China’s genocidal actions and weaken global refugee protections”.

The government in exile called for urgent intervention, highlighting the “need for global unity” to protect “human dignity” and “prevent further atrocities against the Uyghur people”.

The persecution of Uyghurs in China allegedly involves widespread human rights abuses.

The Chinese government has been accused of “religious repression, cultural destruction, and forced assimilation”.

International bodies and human rights organisations have labelled these actions as genocide and crimes against humanity, while China denies the claims, calling them false and part of a campaign to fight extremism.