Almost a decade after fleeing from China, more than 50 Uyghurs are languishing in Thai detention facilities facing an uncertain future as the kingdom strives to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington.

Abdullah Sami, a 35-year-old Uyghur from Xinjiang, who fled China through Thailand and now lives in Austria, has been in contact with some of the detainees. Every time they spoke he said, "I tell them with sorrow that there is no news, there is nothing about them."