Geneva: China on Monday accused the United Nations of making "irresponsible remarks" in its recent criticism of China, Thailand and Vietnam over deportations, insisting none of those deported were refugees.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), had on Friday told reporters that Thailand had deported two recognised Chinese refugees who had been due for resettlement in a third country.
Pointing to allegations of widespread torture in Chinese police custody, Shamdasani urged Thailand to stop deporting people, including potential refugees, to countries where they could face "an imminent risk of grave human rights violations".
But Beijing's mission to the UN in Geneva insisted the Chinese pair were not refugees.
"Two criminal suspects, illegally staying in Thailand and suspected of crime of organising other persons to secretly cross the national border, have been repatriated according to law," it said in a statement.
