Sources: Canada and US offered Uyghurs in Thailand asylum before deportation to China

Canada and the United States offered to resettle 48 ethnic Uyghurs held in detention in Thailand over the past decade, sources told Reuters, but Bangkok took no action for fear of upsetting China, where they were covertly deported last week.

Thailand has defended the deportation, which came despite calls from United Nations human rights experts, saying that it acted in accordance to laws and human rights obligations.

Human rights groups accuse China of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority numbering about 10 million in its northwestern region of Xinjiang. Beijing denies any abuses.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Monday that no country made any concrete offer to resettle the 48 Uyghurs.

Phumtham was out of government from 2006 until mid-2023.

The United States offered to resettle the 48 Uyghurs, said an official from the U.S. State Department.

Canada also offered asylum to the detained Uyghurs, said four sources, including diplomats and people with direct knowledge.

Two of these sources said another offer came from Australia.

These proposals, which the sources said were not taken forward by Thailand over fears of a fallout with China, have not been previously reported.

All the sources declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Thailand and China's foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Canada's immigration ministry said they would not comment on individual cases.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade referred to a statement by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who said on Friday the country "strongly disagrees" with Thailand's decision.