Two UN Human Rights Experts, Fernand de Varennes and Ahmed Shaheed, urged Saudi Arabia on Friday to abide by its non-refoulement obligations under international law and refrain from extraditing two Chinese nationals belonging to the Uyghur minority. The two people detained in Saudi Arabia are Nuermaimaiti Ruze and Waili Aimidoula. Fearing arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, they fled China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region to Turkey in 2016. According to experts, these men have been continuously detained since November 2020 without due legal justification based on a extradition request made by China. Experts learned that the two detainees had been transferred to Riyadh on 14 March for possible extradition, but are currently being held incommunicado in Jeddah. There is concern that continued incommunicado detention and interrogation may lead to torture and cruel treatment. Any derogation from the principle of non-refoulement by Saudi Arabia would constitute a serious violation of human rights and refugee law, despite the existence of a bilateral extradition treaty with China. . Under the principle of non-refoulement, states are obliged not to expel from their territory refugees and asylum seekers who face threats of serious human rights violations in the state of destination. This is especially true when said state has demonstrated a consistent practice of violating human rights. Experts have pushed for a risk assessment of extraditing these men to China: in view of the credible risk of serious violations, both to their membership of an ethnic and religious minority, Saudi Arabia must conduct an individual, impartial and independent assessment of risks, and provide prompt and transparent access to safeguards, including the ability to challenge the deportation decision. . . [W]We ask the authorities to immediately allow the two men to communicate with their families and find out their fate and whereabouts. We are even more concerned about the recent reported acts of retaliation against members of the families of the two men, present in Saudi Arabia. The concerns come amid widespread reports of China’s alleged persecution of the Uighur Muslim minority community. China has been accused of detaining up to two million people in a camp system set up in Xinjiang, with survivors alleging abuse, brainwashing, rape, torture and forced labor. In January, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution condemning China’s political and humanitarian crimes against China’s Muslim Uyghur minority.