BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Almost a decade after fleeing China, more than 50 Uyghurs are languishing in Thai detention facilities, living in constant fear of being sent back.

China has been accused of grave human rights abuses in Xinjiang against the Uyghurs dating back to at least the 1990s, with the United States branding Beijing's treatment of the mostly Muslim minority a "genocide."

A damning United Nations report released in August detailed violations including torture and forced labor and "large-scale" arbitrary detention in what Beijing calls vocational training centers.

Many Uyghurs have fled China over the years, with some traveling through Myanmar to Thailand, but dozens have ended up stuck in detention there — the apparent victims of what observers say is the kingdom's desire to avoid angering either Beijing or Washington.

The group of Uyghurs, arrested in 2013 and 2014, are currently being held in immigration centers around Thailand while authorities ponder their fate.

Neither their precise location nor their exact number is clear — a group of Thai rights organizations says there are 52, but a senator working on the case says 59.

Support for the detainees has stepped up in recent months, with eight Thai human rights organizations urging authorities in July not to send them to China.

The renewed attention comes as Thailand prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month, with China and the US both increasingly vying for influence in Southeast Asia.