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.

Thailand should be commended for its handling of its return of 40 Uyghur Muslims to China, a deputy premier said on Friday, as his country endured a torrent of international condemnation over its secretive deportation.

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,