Thailand on Thursday deported some 40 Uyghur asylum seekers back to China. The group of Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority in China, had been detained in Bangkok for over a decade

Dozens of Uyghur men detained in Thailand after fleeing China may have been secretly deported to their home country, activists and rights groups said on Thursday, warning they could face torture and imprisonment on their return.

Thai lawmakers, activists, and lawyers believe a group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade may have been deported to China early Thursday after trucks with covered windows were seen leaving a detention center and China said Chinese citizens had been repatriated from the Southeast Asian country.

Thailand on Thursday deported 40 Uyghur detainees who had been in the country for nearly 11 years, after receiving assurances from China that they would be looked after, Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said.

International standards and human rights principles must be followed, Thailand's prime minister said on Thursday (Feb 27), in response to concerns aired by activists that 48 Uyghurs held for more than a decade had been secretly deported to China.

China confirmed Thailand deported 40 Chinese nationals on Thursday, despite human rights organizations and members of the U.S. government called on Bangkok to not repatriate the Uyghur Muslims.