A group of at least 40 Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade have been deported to China, Thai and Chinese officials said Thursday. The men made a public appeal last month to halt the deportation,

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.

Human rights groups warned that the Uyghurs, who were held in Bangkok for more than a decade, will face mistreatment from Chinese authorities back in Xinjiang.

At least 40 Uyghurs have been deported to China, the Thai authorities have confirmed, despite warnings from rights groups that they face possible torture and even death. The group is thought to have been flown back to China's Xinjiang region on Thursday,

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday condemned Thailand's return of at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where Washington says members of the Muslim group have faced genocide.

The detainees were part of a group of some 300 Uyghurs who fled China and were arrested in Thailand in 2014. Thailand deported more than 100 of them to China in 2015, drawing condemnation.

Rights groups criticized the Thai government for sending the Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority, back to China, where they face the risk of torture and imprisonment.

The men’s plight had become a high-profile test of Washington’s sway in Asia as it seeks to confront China.