Uighurs Face Torture in China — Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and World Uyghur Congress (WUC) Condemn Deportation from Germany

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) condemn the deportation of 21-year-old Uighur Arafat Adil from Germany to China. The organizations emphasize that the deportation violates the ban on deportations to countries where torture is practiced. The persecution of Uyghurs in the East Turkestan/Xinjiang region is classified as genocide by the U.S. and as a crime against humanity by the European Parliament. Uyghurs returning from abroad are considered to be at particular risk.

STP and WUC are calling for a binding ban on deportations of Uyghurs to China. They also stress that it must be ensured that, prior to any deportation, potential grounds for prohibiting deportation are examined with particular care—especially in the case of members of persecuted groups. This did not happen in the case of Arafat Adil. Both organizations are demanding an explanation as to how this could be the third such case, despite Germany’s recognition of China’s crimes against the Uyghurs.

The young man was deported by police via Frankfurt Airport to Beijing on July 21. According to his family, he was taken into custody and interrogated upon arrival in Beijing. Following the intervention of Turkish diplomats, he was able to leave China again and, according to the WUC, arrived in Turkey on July 23.

“It is highly problematic that the BAMF did not grant a ban on deportation to a Uyghur and subsequently deported him to China. The existing protection measures for Uyghurs are clearly insufficient. The German government must urgently revise the current regulations. Uyghurs from Xinjiang face detention, interrogation, and torture if they return to China,” says Mirjam Kobold, STP’s expert on genocide prevention.

In addition to Chinese citizenship, Adil also holds Turkish citizenship. His family left China in 2017 and has been living in Turkey ever since; he received a Turkish passport in 2024. His asylum application filed in Germany was unsuccessful, and the proceedings were discontinued. It is not this decision that is being criticized: In its ruling, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) determined that there were no grounds for prohibiting deportation and explicitly named China as the destination country for deportation, even though Adil was born in East Turkestan/Xinjiang and the office’s guiding principle generally provides for protected status for Uyghurs from China. The Federal Ministry of the Interior told the Associated Press that there is no ban on deporting Uyghurs to China; however, the BAMF’s guiding principle generally provides protection for them. In Adil’s case, this decision-making practice did not lead to protection, but rather to deportation to the very country from which he and his family had fled to escape persecution.

“It is inconceivable that the German authorities neither informed his lawyer of the deportation in a timely manner nor allowed him to communicate with Arafat. The fact that German authorities are deporting a Uyghur to China, where an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs is being perpetrated, is deeply troubling. Action must be taken against this,” says Zumretay Arkin, Vice President of the World Uyghur Congress.

Mirjam Kobold emphasizes: “The absolute prohibition on refoulement—enshrined in both the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture—applies regardless of the outcome of an asylum proceeding. The fact that it has now been disregarded for the third time constitutes a failure on the part of the authorities and a serious violation of Germany’s human rights obligations.”

This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at 65]G378o6DD6CA.