Thailand's government has repeatedly defended the secretive deportation, which came despite calls from United Nations human rights experts who said the Uyghurs would be at risk of torture, ill-treatment and "irreparable harm" if returned 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 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,

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.

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.

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,

Authorities in Thailand on Thursday deported dozens of Uyghur men to China, despite vehement public objections and weeks of behind-the-scenes diplomacy from the U.S. The men had been in Thai detention for more than a decade after fleeing China’s Xinjiang region,

The United States embassy in Bangkok on Friday issued a security alert for its citizens in Thailand, a day after the secretive deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China that has drawn international condemnation.

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.

Resettling the Uighurs would not shield Thailand from a potential fallout with China, the minister said. Read more at straitstimes.com.