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.

U.S. 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.