Thailand has deported two veteran Chinese dissidents and registered refugees back to China, causing anger from rights groups and the UN.

The world body’s refugee agency, UNHCR, did not name activists Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping or their nationalities but said it was “deeply concerned over the refoulement of two recognised refugees from Thailand”.

It said the men had been approved to be resettled outside Thailand and China and were due to depart days after the unannounced deportation this weekend.

“This action by Thailand is clearly a serious disappointment, and underscores the longstanding gap in Thai domestic law concerning ensuring appropriate treatment of persons with international protection needs,” the UNHCR said.

Thailand has not signed the 1951 refugee convention and does not recognise the status of refugees and asylum seekers. However, the government asserts that it observes the convention in practice.

The reasons for the deportation remain unclear, the UNHCR said, adding that the refoulement occurred despite numerous official interventions by members of the international community, including the UNHCR’s representives in Thailand.

Jiang and Dong were arrested by Thai authorities on 28 October for not having valid visas.

Jiang was arrested and tortured in China in 2008 after criticising Beijing’s handling of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province; Dong was detained after participating in a peaceful event commemorating victims of the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square, Amnesty International said. Both fled to Thailand with their families but were arrested.

Under the current Thai junta, the country has bulked up ties with China, including an agreement to boost joint-military engagement over the next five years, from intelligence sharing to fighting international crime.

In July, Thailand forcefully deported about 100 ethnic Uighur Muslims back to China. The UNHCR said at the time the expulsion was “a flagrant violation of international law.”

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of the Turkic language speaking minority have fled unrest and persecution in China’s western Xinjiangregion, where hundreds of people have been killed. Many have transited through south-east Asia.

Amnesty International said Jiang and Dong were “at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment, as well as unfair trials in China after having been deported from Thailand by local authorities”.

The advocacy group said unidentified individuals paid the men’s fines on 6 November and they were transferred immediately to the immigration detention centre and their deportation a few days later. Their families had not received official notice of their deportation, it added.

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