found that Chinese authorities were committing various crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang. A 2022 UN report concluded that abuses against Uyghurs “may constitute crimes against humanity.” The Chinese government has tried to force Uyghurs who have fled China to return, where they are likely to face serious harm including arbitrary arrest, torture, cultural and political persecution, and forced labor. The Chinese government has often secured forced returns without issuing extradition orders or going through formal bilateral legal channels by leveraging its political or financial influence against host governments or their officials. Governments that have permitted these extraditions have violated international legal protections against nonrefoulement. In 2015, following pressure by Chinese officials, the Thai government deported 109 Uyghur men and boys to China. They have not been heard from since. Also in 2015, several Uyghurs were extradited from Afghanistan during negotiations over a counterterrorism alliance to include China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Following the Uyghurs’ extradition from Afghanistan, China promised over US$70 million in military aid to Afghanistan. In July 2017, Egyptian authorities detained dozens of Uyghur students in Egypt at the behest of the Chinese government, forcing at least 12 to return to China. China’s attempts to force the return of Uyghurs leaves many in indefinite detention and with an uncertain future. The Thai government has held up to 50 Uyghurs facing extradition in indefinite immigration detention, putting them at grave risk by holding them for long periods in horrendous conditions. In 2023, Aziz Abdullah and Mattohti Mattursun, Uyghurs who had been detained for nine years, both died of medical conditions in Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center. Chinese government attempts to remove Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities to China are not always successful. Sayragul Sauytbai, an ethnic Kazakh woman with Chinese citizenship, fled from China to Kazakhstan fearing for her safety. In 2018, Kazakh authorities arrested and prosecuted Sauytbai for “illegal border crossing.” The Chinese government called for her extradition to China and sent a consular official to one of her court hearings. She was held in pretrial detention until the court handed her a suspended sentence and released her in July 2018. The Kazakh authorities eventually permitted Sauytbai to leave for Sweden, where she obtained asylum. 11 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2024