Thailand has deported at least 40 Uyghurs to China, officials confirmed Thursday, despite warnings from human rights groups that they face possible torture, enforced disappearance, or worse. 

The group, believed to have been flown to China’s Xinjiang region, had spent a decade in a Bangkok immigration detention center. Their deportation marks the first such move by Thailand since 2015, a year that saw global condemnation over similar actions. 

The Thai government has been tight-lipped about the operation, which took place amid serious concerns raised by the United States and the United Nations. Local media reported that trucks with black plastic-covered windows left Bangkok’s main immigration facility in the early hours of Thursday. Hours later, tracking data from Flightradar24 showed an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight departing Bangkok and landing in Xinjiang. 

Thai authorities later defended the decision, stating that holding the Uyghurs for over a decade was unjust and that no third country—Turkey included—had stepped forward to offer asylum. Eight Uyghurs remain in Thailand, five of whom are serving prison sentences for crimes committed while in detention. 

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who recently visited China, claimed she had received assurances that the deported Uyghurs would be treated well. However, she did not initially confirm that the deportation had taken place. “In any country, actions must adhere to the principles of law, international processes, and human rights,” she told reporters. 

Beijing has avoided acknowledging that the deported individuals were Uyghurs, instead referring to them as “Chinese illegal immigrants” who were repatriated under international law. Chinese state media claimed the group had been manipulated by criminal organizations and had fled China illegally. 

Rights groups and Western governments have accused China of committing crimes against humanity—and possibly genocide—against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, allegations that Beijing strongly denies. 

The deportation has sparked outrage among international human rights organizations and political leaders. Human Rights Watch warned that the deported Uyghurs face a high risk of torture and indefinite imprisonment. 

“Thailand’s transfer of Uyghur detainees to China constitutes a blatant violation of Thailand’s obligations under domestic and international laws,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. She accused Thai officials of breaking assurances that the detainees would not be sent back to China. 

Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA), said the deportations shattered any illusion that the current Thai government was different from its predecessor when it comes to transnational repression. 

Amnesty International called the move “unimaginably cruel,” while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Thailand’s actions and urged governments worldwide not to force Uyghurs back to China. “China has committed genocide and crimes against humanity targeting predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang,” Rubio said in a statement. 

The United Nations also expressed deep regret over the deportations. 

There are around 12 million Uyghurs in Xinjiang, where China has been accused of carrying out mass surveillance, detentions, and religious persecution. Uyghurs, who speak a language similar to Turkish, have long viewed themselves as culturally closer to Central Asian nations than to Han Chinese, China’s ethnic majority. 

Over recent decades, Beijing has orchestrated a mass migration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang, allegedly to dilute the Uyghur population. Reports from human rights groups and exiled Uyghurs detail the destruction of mosques, the banning of religious practices, and the targeting of Muslim leaders. 

The fate of the deported Uyghurs remains uncertain, but human rights advocates fear they could face imprisonment, forced labor, or worse upon their return to China.