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'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.

On Feb. 27, Thailand repatriated 40 of the Uyghurs to China, ignoring warnings from the United States, the U.N. and human rights groups that the men risked torture when they returned to the northeastern region of Xinjiang, which they had fled more than 10 years ago.

Thai minister claims the possibility of retaliation from Beijing if the Uyghur refugees are sent to another country.

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.

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.

Thai lawmakers, activists, and lawyers believe a group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade may have been deported to China early Thursday after trucks with covered windows were seen leaving a detention center and China said Chinese citizens had been repatriated from the Southeast Asian country.

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.