Thailand's deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China last week was in the Southeast Asian country's best interest due to the possibility of retaliation from Beijing if the group was sent elsewhere, a Thai minister said on Thursday.

The government chose not to send the asylum seekers to a third country in order to avoid retaliation from Beijing, diplomats and opposition lawmakers say.

The secret deportation by Thailand of dozens of Uyghur men to China that has sparked international condemnation is a diplomatic win for Beijing and a snub to the United States and the United Nations,

Canada and the United States offered to resettle 48 ethnic Uyghurs held in detention in Thailand over the past decade, sources told Reuters, but Bangkok took no action for fear of upsetting China, where they were covertly deported last week.

Human rights groups warned that the Uyghurs, who were held in Bangkok for more than a decade, will face mistreatment from Chinese authorities back in Xinjiang.

The Chinese embassy in Thailand has confirmed that a group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade have been deported to China.

At least 40 Uyghurs have been deported to China, the Thai authorities have confirmed, despite warnings from rights groups that they face possible torture and even death. The group is thought to have been flown back to China's Xinjiang region on Thursday,

The U.S. Embassy in Thailand this week advised U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution and vigilance” following Thailand’s recent deportation of asylum-seekers to China.

China confirmed Thailand deported 40 Chinese nationals on Thursday, despite human rights organizations and members of the U.S. government called on Bangkok to not repatriate the Uyghur Muslims.

Rights groups criticized the Thai government for sending the Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority, back to China, where they face the risk of torture and imprisonment.