US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday announced visa bans on officials from ally Thailand after the kingdom deported dozens of Uyghurs back to China.
"In light of China's longstanding acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against Uighurs, we call on governments around the world not to forcibly return Uighurs and other groups to China," Rubio said in a statement as he attended G7 talks in Canada.
Thailand yesterday responded to the ban, saying it had "received assurances" of their safety.
Rubio said that the United States would as a matter of policy take action against foreign government officials involved in deportations of Uighurs.
He said that he was immediately restricting visas to an unspecified number of former or current officials from Thailand involved in the deportation of dozens of Uighurs in late February.
Thailand is the oldest US ally in Asia but maintains friendly relations with Beijing. In response to international criticism on the deportations, the Thai government said that China assured it that the Uyghurs would be treated well.
The United States accuses China of genocide over its mass camps for Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
China rejects the accusations and says it is providing vocational education to improve Uighurs' future.
Rubio since his time as a senator has been an outspoken advocate of the Uighurs and critic of China.
The harsh criticism of Thailand, however, marks a rare return by President Donald Trump's administration to the longstanding US prioritization of human rights and protection of asylum seekers.
Trump has pursued mass deportations of undocumented people in the United States, rejecting arguments that it is unsafe for them to return to violence-torn nations, mostly in Latin America.
Rubio, speaking to reporters at the G7, said in response to a question that he expected Trump eventually to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
