Thailand holding over 100 Tamil asylum seekers: police

BANGKOK, October 13, 2010 (AFP) - Thailand is holding 128 Tamil migrants for possible deportation even though some have registered with the United Nations as asylum seekers, authorities said Wednesday.

Police originally arrested 155 people, but some were freed because they were able to present valid travel documents, said Colonel Worawat Amornwiwat, a spokesman for the immigration service.

"These people are minority Tamils fleeing war in their country and seeking asylum through the UN. But they came to Thailand with tourist visas, allowing them to stay only 60 days, and they overstayed," he said.

Some of those arrested on Monday have papers showing that they have already applied to the UN for refugee status, police said.

Worawat said that authorities would contact the Sri Lankan embassy in order to send back those charged with breaching their visas.

He added that there was no provision for Sri Lankan refugees in Thailand, despite their registration with the United Nations. No one from the UN refugee agency was immediately available to comment.

Activists based in Canada, which has recently sought to change its immigration laws in response to the arrival of boats carrying hundreds of Tamil refugees, said those arrested in Thailand were genuinely in need of protection.

The Tamil refugees in Thailand may be persecuted if they return home and are "likely to face torture," the Canadian Tamil Congress said.

"We are very disturbed by the arrests as it includes genuine refugees seeking international protection," the group said in a statement.

Sri Lanka's crackdown on the Tamil Tigers, which ended a lengthy civil war last year, has resulted in a flood of people seeking asylum in other countries.

A Thai state media report earlier this week said police believed the migrants could include Tiger rebels waiting to seek asylum in a third country.

But Worawat said those arrested were not members of the Tiger organisation.

"There is nothing related to Tamil Tigers... These people are just families, mostly women and children," he said.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-1013

I know several Sri Lankans who have been listed as "Persons of Concern" by the UN. They have papers from the UN and had a letter from the Thai gov't, which they presented to police if they were stopped (I don't know what it said exactly).

Is this a change in the gov't policy?

Is this related to the crackdown and incarceration of over-stayers we've been bombarded with by Pattaya One news?

Should have sailed westward where diplomatic passports are readily issued.