Thai authorities arrest 72 Rohingyas for illegal entry

Than Htike Oo

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

January 4, 2008 - The Thai Navy arrested 72 Rohingya, Muslim ethnic minorities from Burma for illegally entering the country. They were transferred to the Thai-Burmese border town of Ranong, a police source said.

The Rohingyas, mainly residents of Burma's western coastal state of Arakan, were caught by a Thai navy patrol vessel on January 2, in a boat drifting near Kura Buri district.

An official at the Kura Buri police station told Mizzima that the Rohingyas, in the age group of 10 to 30 years, have been transferred to the Ranong immigration department.

"They were taken away by the Phangnga immigration and handed over to the Ranong immigration," the official said.

A Burmese Rights activist, from the Grassroot Human Rights Education Committee, told Mizzima that the group had visited the Rohingyas and provided food after they were informed by Thai officials.

An official at the Ranong police station, however, said it is still unclear what would be done to the arrested Rohingyas.

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, Thai officials suspect a section of the Rohingyas of working with insurgents in Thailand's southern districts and are likely to be charged with illegal entry.

Rohingyas, who mainly reside in Burma's western coastal state of Arakan, like many other Burmese, have occasionally been reported crossing the sea into Malaysia to find jobs.

If only the U.S. would get its act together and learn from this.