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 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.

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 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,

Thailand should be commended for managing the return of 40 Uyghurs to China, a deputy premier said on Friday, as his country endured a torrent of international condemnation over its secretive deportation and Bangkok embassies sent out security alerts.

Thai human rights advocates on Tuesday voiced their disapproval regarding the government's decision to deport 40 Uyghurs back to China, asserting that the United Nations should consider expelling Thailand from its Human Rights Council,

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,

Thailand reportedly deported 48 ethnic Uyghurs to China, snubbing asylum offers from the US, Canada, and Australia, says Reuters.

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.

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.