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 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,

The State Department says the United States and other countries made repeated offers to Thailand to resettle more than three dozen Uyghur men before they were deported back to China, where rights groups fear they may face torture and other abuse.

Thailand acted in accordance with human rights when it sent 40 Uyghurs back to China last week, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters on Monday.

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.

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.

The Thai government violated domestic and international law by forcibly sending at least 40 Uyghur men to China, where they could face torture, arbitrary detention, and long-term imprisonment.

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.

The US condemned "in the strongest possible terms" Thailand's return of 40 Uygur men to China on Thursday and called for Beijing to provide regular access to verify their well-being. "As Thailand's long-standing ally,