'Hell on earth': China deportation looms for Uyghurs held in Thailand

The Uyghur family was detained in Thailand in 2014 after fleeing increasing repression in China 's Xinjiang province.

Niluper not her real name now fears she and her three sons may never see him again.

She and the children were allowed to leave Thailand a year later but her husband remained in detention.

The Thai government has denied having any immediate plans to send them back, but human rights groups believe they could be deported at any time.

220 Uyghurs were caught by Thai police trying to cross the border to Malaysia in March 2014 .

Niluper was held in an IDC near the border, and then later in Bangkok , until with 170 other women and children, she was allowed in June 2015 to go to Turkey .

Her husband remains in the Bangkok IDC, but she has had no contact with him since a brief meeting they were permitted in July 2014 .

Thailand has never explained why it will not allow the remaining UYghurs to join their families in Turkey .

Hasan and 19 others made a remarkable escape using a nail to make a hole in a crumbling wall.

Eleven were recaptured, but Hasan managed to cross the forested border into Malaysia , and from there reached Turkey .