Thailand sent back 40 Chinese individuals categorised as “illegal immigrants” on Thursday, following claims by human rights activists and a Thai news organization that the country was deporting Uyghurs who had been held in Thailand for over 10 years, according to reports by Radio Free Asia (RFA).

The group, predominantly members of the primarily Muslim minority from China’s Xinjiang, has been confined in Thailand’s Immigration Detention Center since 2014, after attempting to flee Beijing’s oppression by passing through Thailand, RFA reported.