Twenty Uygur asylum seekers who fled to Cambodia after July's deadly ethnic riots in China's city of Urumqi, were deported back to China, BBC said.

The riots began in Urumqi, in China's northwest Xinjiang region, when a group of protesters demanded an investigation into the death of two ethnic Uighurs in Guangdong during a fight with Han Chinese workers. At least 197 people died and 1,600 were wounded as the result of China's worst ethnic violence in a decade.

The United Nations refugee agency condemned Cambodia authorities' decision driven by China's intense pressure, BBC said. The organization described the deportation as a grave breach of international refugee law.

The decision was taken ahead of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jingping's visit to Cambodia due on Sunday.

The Chinese and Cambodian authorities have so far provided no comment.

MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti)