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,

Authorities in Thailand on Thursday deported dozens of Uyghur men to China, despite vehement public objections and weeks of behind-the-scenes diplomacy from the U.S. The men had been in Thai detention for more than a decade after fleeing China’s Xinjiang region,

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.