During a hearing at the South Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday (16 July), a representative from the Immigration Bureau said that the Thai authorities prevented Hong Kong activist and UN-recognised refugee Zhang Xinyan from traveling to Canada after the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok asked that Thailand delay her resettlement.

Zhang’s lawyers petitioned the South Bangkok Criminal Court for a hearing under the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act after they were not able to contact Zhang or allowed to visit her since her detention on 8 July, raising concerns that she may have been deported to China, where she would be at risk.

A representative of the Immigration Bureau was summoned to court on 16 July. Zhang was also brought to court, confirming that she is still in Thailand.

Pol Col Watcharapol Kanjanakan, Superintendent of Division 3 of the Immigration Bureau’s Investigation Division, testified that Zhang was first detained on 7 July for overstaying her visa and sentenced to 1 month in detention and a fine of 5,000 baht. Once she was brought to the immigration detention centre, Zhang presented her refugee identification issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), so immigration officers asked her if she would like to return to China. Zhang refused, so they kept her in detention. 

Pol Col Watcharapol said that since Zhang is a Chinese national, the Immigration Bureau contacted the Chinese Embassy to check whether she was a Chinese citizen and whether she has any criminal charges in China so they can arrange appropriate detention measures. 

Meanwhile, Canada contacted the Bureau requesting that Zhang be released for resettlement. A visa had already been issued for her, and a plane ticket secured for a flight on 8 July. Watcharapol said, however, that the country of origin must consent before a refugee can leave for resettlement. On 7 July, the Immigration Bureau received a letter from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok requesting that it delay Zhang’s resettlement. Although China said that Zhang’s behaviour was damaging, it did not provide the Bureau with evidence. 

A meeting was called on 7 July between the National Security Council (NSC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Immigration Bureau and other related agencies. The meeting agreed that the NSC will inform the Prime Minister, who will make the final decision as chair of the NSC. The Bureau therefore stopped Zhang from travelling to Canada.

Zhang will be detained at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre until a decision is made, since the NSC believes her case could affect international relations. Meanwhile, the UNHCR has not revoked her refugee status, and Canada maintained that it has accepted her for resettlement.

When asked why Zhang’s lawyers have not been allowed to visit her, the Immigration Bureau representative said that they were deporting around 300 Chinese detainees allegedly involved in scam centres and other crimes. Because they had to concentrate on arranging these deportations, which required manpower and many vehicles, they did not allow a visit.

The Court ruled that Zhang’s detention was lawful because the Immigration Bureau is allowed to detain individuals awaiting deportation indefinitely under the Immigration Act. It also ruled that the Bureau did not violate the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act because it believes the Bureau has a legitimate reason to refuse a visit. Zhang was also brought to court, so it ruled that no disappearance took place.

However, Zhang’s lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman said that the Immigration Bureau should no longer be allowed to detain Zhang since she refused to return to China and a third country has agreed to resettle her. Nadthasiri said that the Bureau should allow Zhang to travel.

The hearing was the first time such a petition was accepted and considered by a court. Similar petitions have previously been filed in cases of the 40 Uyghur refugees being deported to China and of Montagnard refugee Y Quin Bdap. All were dismissed without a hearing being called.

Zhang, 55, came to Thailand to escape religious persecution based on her practice of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China. She is also a member of the “Hong Kong Parliament,” a group formed by exiled activists. In July 2025, the Hong Kong police issued an arrest warrant for Zhang and 14 other members of the group for alleged subversion under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law.

The group was accused of organizing unofficial polls outside Hong Kong in order to form a shadow legislature to advance the principle of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.”  Bounties offered for their arrest ranged from HKD 200,000 to 1 million (approx. USD 25,000-127,000).