International pressure is mounting on Thailand – including from the new US administration – over the fate of dozens of Uyghur men held in detention for more than a decade, following reports the Thai government planned to deport the group to China.

Dozens of men from the ethnic minority sought escape from repression in China a decade ago, but have been detained in Thailand ever since.

The government of Thailand must immediately halt the possible transfer of 48 Uyghurs to the People's Republic of China, United Nations experts said on Tuesday, warning that the group was at real risk of torture or other cruel,

US President Donald Trump's incoming secretary of state is among those calling for Thailand not to deport a group Uyghurs to China, where it is feared they would face persecution.

The family was detained in Thailand in 2014 after fleeing increasing repression in their hometown in China's Xinjiang province. She and the children were allowed to leave Thailand a year later. But her husband remained in detention, along with 47 other Uyghur men. Niluper – not her real name – now fears she and her children may never see him again.

In this photo provided on condition of anonymity, Uyghur detainees who say they are facing deportation back to China, where they fear persecution and even death, sit in an immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, in February 2024.

The experts’ statement comes less than a week after Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said he would lobby Thailand against deporting the 48 Uyghurs to China during a hearing on his nomination for the post of U.S. secretary of state, which he was confirmed for on Monday.