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.

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 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,

Since 2014, of the 53 remaining Uyghur detainees in Thailand, five received prison sentences for attempting to escape. Five others, including two minors, died in custody. Chinese state media reported Thursday that forty Uyghurs were just deported to China, leaving the whereabouts of eight Uyghurs detained in Thailand unknown.

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 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.