Fortify Rights petitions parliamentary committee to investigate detention and stop forced return of Zhang Xinyan
(BANGKOK, July 16, 2026)—The Thai government should immediately facilitate the resettlement of Hong Kong pro-democracy journalist Zhang Xinyan and refrain from forcibly returning her to China, where she may face severe persecution, unfair trial, and detention, said Fortify Rights today. Zhang Xinyan, a refugee recognized by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Thailand, was reportedly prevented from resettling in a third country, a few days before Anutin Charnvirakul, Prime Minister of Thailand, will make an official visit to China from July 16 and 20, 2026, where he is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
On July 15, Fortify Rights submitted a petition to Thailand’s Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and Human Rights, urging the Committee to investigate the arrest of Zhang Xinyan and prevent her forced return to China.
“Pandering to Chinese authorities by preventing a recognized refugee from third country resettlement jeopardizes Thai sovereignty,” said Puttanee Kangkun, Director at Fortify Rights. “The Thai authorities should uphold their human rights obligations, ensure her safety and access to legal counsel, and protect individuals within their jurisdiction rather than seeking to appease the Chinese government.”
According to Zhang Xinyan’s legal team, Thai authorities prevented Zhang Xinyan from departing for third-country resettlement on July 8, 2026.
Since her earlier arrest on May 7, the legal team has been assisting her with the resettlement process, regularly visiting her. Their last visit to see her in the immigration detention center (IDC) was on July 6, and Zhang Xinyan confirmed that she would leave Thailand on July 8. Since July 10, the legal team has been unable to reach Zhang Xinyan after they learned that Thai authorities had prevented her from leaving Thailand.
When her legal team requested a visit, the IDC officials informed them that no visits would be permitted from July 13 to 15, 2026, and gave no reasons for their refusal. The legal team is concerned that Thailand will seek to forcibly return Zhang Xinyan to China during this period and filed a judicial complaint seeking a court order requiring the IDC to disclose Zhang Xinyan’s whereabouts and to release her from detention.
On May 7, 2026, Thai immigration authorities arrested Zhang Xinyan for allegedly overstaying her visa and working without authorization under the Thai Immigration Act, after which she was transferred to Suan Phlu IDC in Bangkok. Following her arrest, Fortify Rights urged the Thai government to immediately release and ensure the safety of Zhang Xinyan and refrain from returning her to China.
As Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the U.N. Refugee Agency documentation provides only limited practical protection against arrest and does not confer legal refugee status under Thai law.
Zhang Xinyan is a journalist, a practitioner of Falun Gong—a spiritual discipline that has long faced severe persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—and a member of the Hong Kong Parliament, a non-governmental group established by Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, intended as a parliament-in-exile. Her journalism, political activism, and spiritual beliefs made her a target of both the CCP and the Hong Kong authorities under the city’s draconian National Security Law. In July 2025, Hong Kong’s National Security Department issued a 200,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately US$25,530) bounty for information leading to her arrest, accusing her of “subverting state power” and “offenses endangering national security” related to her activism and journalism. Zhang has lived in Thailand since 2014, where she was recognized as a refugee by UNHCR and was awaiting third-country resettlement.
Thailand has a history of violating the principle of non-refoulement, a fundamental norm of international refugee and human rights law that prohibits returning individuals to places where they may face persecution, including in cases of activists at risk of persecution in their home countries. States are obligated to assess the risks of torture, persecution, or other serious human rights violations before facilitating any transfer of a person to another country. This duty exists regardless of whether the person has expressed a concern about protection or requested protection from the state.
Although Thailand enacted the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, or Anti-Torture Law, in October 2022, Section 13 of which prohibits refoulement, Fortify Rights has documented cases where Thai authorities forcibly return refugees to places where they face risk of such harm. Any officials playing a role in the forced return of refugees can be punished under Section 157 of the Thailand Criminal Code.
Thailand is scheduled to undergo the fourth cycle review of the Universal Periodic Review under the U.N. Human Rights Council mechanism in November this year and Fortify Rights has submitted a report detailing the Thai authorities’ arbitrary detention, torture, and forced return of refugees.
Zhang Xinyan’s case also raises serious concerns about transnational repression, which is the use of threats, surveillance, harassment, coercion, and other measures by governments to silence or punish critics beyond their borders. In February 2025, the Thai government forcibly returned 40 Uyghur refugees to China after years of detention, prompting widespread international condemnation. The United States sanctioned current and former Thai officials responsible for this forced return with a visa restriction policy.
“The government of Thailand should face international criticism and sanctions if it keeps violating the rights guaranteed to refugees,” said Puttanee Kangkun. “Thai authorities should do the right thing, which is to immediately permit Zhang Xinyan to resettle in a third country that has already accepted her as a refugee in need of protection.”
Photo credit: Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul meeting with Xi Jinping. ©Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, 2025