Thailand arrests more than 150 Rohingya: police

BANGKOK, Jan 14, 2013 (AFP) - Thailand arrested and pledged to deport more than 150 Myanmar Rohingya migrants discovered in a hidden camp near the country's southern border with Malaysia, police said Monday.

The 71 men and 85 women and children were found on a rubber plantation in Songkhla Province, local police colonel Krisakorn Pleetanyawong said, four days after some 400 Rohingya were discovered in another raid in the province.

"They will be treated under the law as illegal immigrants and will be deported," he told AFP, adding that a Thai man had also been arrested on suspicion of violating immigration law.

Thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim minority group not recognised as citizens in Myanmar, have fled communal unrest in the country's western Rakhine state, heading to Thailand and other countries.

Rights groups decry Thailand for failing to help Rohingya migrants who reach its territory, instead pushing them back to Myanmar or into neighbouring countries including Malaysia, which offers sanctuary to the minority group.

Human Rights Watch has called on Thai authorities to allow the United Nations' refugee agency access to the Rohingya before taking action to deport them.

HRW Thailand researcher Sunai Phasuk said women and children were increasingly among boatloads of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar.

"It appears that the families are being uprooted in their homeland and they have to seek somewhere safe to stay," he told AFP.

The UN has urged Myanmar's neighbours to open their borders to people escaping a wave of communal violence in Rakhine.

Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have left at least 180 people dead in the state since June, and displaced more than 110,000 others, mostly Rohingya.

Myanmar views the roughly 800,000 Rohingya in Rakhine as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.

Although tensions have eased since a fresh outbreak of killings in October, concerns have grown about the fate of asylum-seekers setting sail in overcrowded boats.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-01-14

Amazing. The police actually found someone in the South. They must have all had t shirts on saying please arrest me.

They can find these poor folks in hidden camps, whereas when it comes to insurgents, they couldn't track a wounded elephant through snow.

They aught to be thanking Allah they made it to land. God only knows what would have happened if the Thai navy caught them at sea.

http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/01/thailand-burmese-refugees-set-adrift-hundreds-feared-dead/

Edited January 14, 201313 yr by dcutman

They aught to be thanking Allah they made it to land. God only knows what would have happened if the Thai navy caught them at sea.

http://www.ipsnews.n...ds-feared-dead/

That was during Abhisit's tenure as PM. Things have changed since Yingluck.

They aught to be thanking Allah they made it to land. God only knows what would have happened if the Thai navy caught them at sea.

http://www.ipsnews.n...ds-feared-dead/

That was during Abhisit's tenure as PM. Things have changed since Yingluck.

Oh really? Just like the human trafficking thing has got so much better right?

Edited January 14, 201313 yr by dcutman

You can only feel sympathy for these people. Misguided by their religion and then an outcast due to their beliefs. Now won't that get the blogs enraged... Frankly, Myanmar - Burma, has a shocking Human Rights record and the military one of the most stalwart corrupt organisations outstripping even the Chinese for bloody-mindedness. But being a Muslim does not auger too well in global sympathy in Thailand at present, especially if they are domiciled in the South. Malaysia is welcome to them I guess.

They aught to be thanking Allah they made it to land. God only knows what would have happened if the Thai navy caught them at sea.

http://www.ipsnews.n...ds-feared-dead/

That was during Abhisit's tenure as PM. Things have changed since Yingluck.

Oh really? Just like the human trafficking thing has got so much better right?

no real changes with a different administration

International human rights agency Human Rights Watch today called for the Thai government to immediately halt its plan to deport ethnic Rohingya back to Burma.

Thai authorities should allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency, unhindered access to these and other boat migrants from Burma’s Arakan State to determine whether they are seeking asylum and whether or not they are qualified for refugee status, the New York-based rights group said.

The call follows the move to repatriate the ethnic Rohingya who were found adrift in an open boat off Phuket on January 1.

In its report, Human Rights Watch noted: “Thai authorities intercepted a boatload of 73 Rohingya migrants – including as many as 20 children, some as young as 3 – that contained likely asylum seekers. After providing food, water, and other supplies to the passengers and refueling the boat, Thai authorities initially planned to push the boat back to sea towards Malaysia’s Langkawi Island.

“When they found that the rickety, overcrowded boat had cracks and that many passengers were too weak to endure a stormy sea voyage, the authorities brought the group ashore to the Phuket Immigration Office.

“By 4pm on January 2, two trucks with all 73 Rohingya were heading to Ranong province for deportation to Burma,” the report said.

http://www.phuketgaz...ople-19862.html

The move to return the refugees, most likely asylum seekers, to a country were they face ongoing persecution came under fire by the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch

http://www.phuketgaz...uket-19960.html

Edited January 14, 201313 yr by Buchholz

They aught to be thanking Allah they made it to land. God only knows what would have happened if the Thai navy caught them at sea.

http://www.ipsnews.n...ds-feared-dead/

That was during Abhisit's tenure as PM. Things have changed since Yingluck.

You are right on with that. Wish it had been for the better.

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As a Naval man you would be aware of the illegality of that, would you not ?

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As a Naval man you would be aware of the illegality of that, would you not ?

You should also know that forcibly sending asylum seekers and refugees back to their country to be persecuted, is against international law. That is what your precious Yingluck's policy is, as was your hero and criminal at large, Thaksin's.

BTW turning refugee boats away has been the policy of Thailand for 25 years up to and including this day. But I am sure in your mind AV gave a direct order to the navy to this inhuman act.

Edited January 14, 201313 yr by dcutman

You can only feel sympathy for these people. Misguided by their religion and then an outcast due to their beliefs. Now won't that get the blogs enraged... Frankly, Myanmar - Burma, has a shocking Human Rights record and the military one of the most stalwart corrupt organisations outstripping even the Chinese for bloody-mindedness. But being a Muslim does not auger too well in global sympathy in Thailand at present, especially if they are domiciled in the South. Malaysia is welcome to them I guess.

Malaysia does not welcome their Muslim brothers.

Malaysia does not recognize "refugee" status and treats them as illegal immigrants.

Rohingya are fleeing mainly from Burma because of Buddhist - Muslim clashes over there.

Pattaya has a relatively large Muslim population that lives in peace with the Buddhists... probably because there are so much Buddhists and everyone is anyway too busy to extract money from Farang to find time to sabotage another religious group.

Why some on the forum think Thailand should accept the Rohingya to swell the ranks of Muslim dissent in the South is a mystery to me.

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As a Naval man you would be aware of the illegality of that, would you not ?

You should also know that forcibly sending asylum seekers and refugees back to their country to be persecuted, is against international law. That is what your precious Yingluck's policy is, as was your hero and criminal at large, Thaksin's.

BTW turning refugee boats away has been the policy of Thailand for 25 years up to and including this day. But I am sure in your mind AV gave a direct order to the navy to this inhuman act.

I think a policy of accepting Muslim refugees in the Thai south would endanger the national security of Thailand.

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As B-u-c-h-h-o-l-z (keep trying, one of these years you'll get a handle on using the quote function and proper name spelling) said in Post # 7... no real change with a different administration.

.

'That was during Abhisit's tenure as PM. Things have changed since Yingluck.

Oh really? Just like the human trafficking thing has got so much better right? '

or much better control over the press

This Rohingya situation is a real tragedy. Some movie star in Hollywood or Bollywood should take up their cause and draw attention and support to their plight. Maybe Lady Gaga should have her brassiere made as a mock up of a Rohingya refugee boat seeking to enter Thailand instead of an AK-47.

"They will be treated under the law as illegal immigrants and will be deported,"

Which raises the question of where they will be deported to as Myanmar also regards them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Myanmar's claim may have more to do with badly drawn borders and a wish to ignore the reality of an area of cultural transition, but if these people are actually in fear of persecution and not economic refugees seeking a better life, why do they take the long journey East and South rather than the much shorter route to the West to where they have a common religion and language(?) ?

Why is it the Burmese laborers hide and get found.But the African drug dealers walk around in broad daylight unbothered?

Why is it the Burmese laborers hide and get found.But the African drug dealers walk around in broad daylight unbothered?

Good question.

Why is it the Burmese laborers hide and get found.But the African drug dealers walk around in broad daylight unbothered?

Baht

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As a Naval man you would be aware of the illegality of that, would you not ?

Actually, this occurred just after Abhisit took power, and it was found that the navy were following policy put in place by Samak in early 2008.

This was on the Australian news last week, why has it taken so long to make the Thai news? Did the Thai media only hear about it via the international press.

This was on the Australian news last week, why has it taken so long to make the Thai news? Did the Thai media only hear about it via the international press.

It is kind of like all the illeagal immigrants enslaved to work on Thai fishing boats. When they wash ashore dead with a gunshot wound or being brutally beaten when they can no longer work 20 hours a day. it simply becomes a regular occurrence and is no longer daily news but an annual, special report.

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As a Naval man you would be aware of the illegality of that, would you not ?

You should also know that forcibly sending asylum seekers and refugees back to their country to be persecuted, is against international law. That is what your precious Yingluck's policy is, as was your hero and criminal at large, Thaksin's.

BTW turning refugee boats away has been the policy of Thailand for 25 years up to and including this day. But I am sure in your mind AV gave a direct order to the navy to this inhuman act.

You make a good point, of course it is illegal and I deplore forced repatriation, so we can agree on that.

You then ruin your point with baseless assumptions and juvenile snide remarks.

Rather sad really.

"Precious Yingluck, my hero Thaksin, AV direct order.............."

You make a couple too many assumptions.

Edited January 15, 201313 yr by metisdead
: 30) Do not modify someone else's post in your quoted reply, either with font or color changes, added emoticons, or altered wording.

In response to post bucholze # 7.

Yes, and under the AV administration they were just towed out to sea and left adrift without fuel, food or water......

As a Naval man you would be aware of the illegality of that, would you not ?

You should also know that forcibly sending asylum seekers and refugees back to their country to be persecuted, is against international law. That is what your precious Yingluck's policy is, as was your hero and criminal at large, Thaksin's.

BTW turning refugee boats away has been the policy of Thailand for 25 years up to and including this day. But I am sure in your mind AV gave a direct order to the navy to this inhuman act.

You make a good point, of course it is illegal and I deplore forced repatriation, so we can agree on that.

You then ruin your point with baseless assumptions and juvenile snide remarks.

Rather sad really.

"Precious Yingluck, my hero Thaksin, AV direct order.............."

You make a couple too many assumptions.

I would agree with you, and would never had made them, if, I never read any of your posts on TVF before.

"They will be treated under the law as illegal immigrants and will be deported,"

Which raises the question of where they will be deported to as Myanmar also regards them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

There's now nearly 700 in Songkhla and they will be deported to Myanamar, the same as another group were just last week...

"They are now waiting for deportation which will be done by Thailand's immigration police," Lieutenant Colonel Katika Jitbanjong of Padang Besar local police told the AFP news agency.

Last week, Thailand deported 73 Rohingya boat people back to Myanmar, after they landed on the southern island of Phuket.

http://www.aljazeera...4320327355.html

Edited January 15, 201313 yr by Buchholz

"They will be treated under the law as illegal immigrants and will be deported,"

Which raises the question of where they will be deported to as Myanmar also regards them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Myanmar's claim may have more to do with badly drawn borders and a wish to ignore the reality of an area of cultural transition, but if these people are actually in fear of persecution and not economic refugees seeking a better life, why do they take the long journey East and South rather than the much shorter route to the West to where they have a common religion and language(?) ?

I strongly suspect that the Bangadeshis would consider them to be economic refugees and would send them right back to Burma!

Actually, this occurred just after Abhisit took power, and it was found that the navy were following policy put in place by Samak in early 2008.

Absolute nonsense.

"In January 2009 Thailand’s National Security Council, led by then-Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, authorized the navy to intercept incoming Rohingya boats and detain the passengers before pushing them back to sea. Later that year, Thai security forces were captured on video towing boats with Rohingya out to sea, which the government initially denied, but which Abhisit later conceded, saying, “I have some reason to believe some of this happened.” While the recent “help on” strategy has meant that intercepted boats are re-provisioned, the Thai navy is still pushing back to sea boats filled with Rohingya, with some deadly results."

http://www.hrw.org/n...gya-boat-people

Edited January 15, 201313 yr by FarangTalk

Thailand's treatment of refugees has always been, in my opinion, appalling. Successive governments have only cared about appeasing their neighbours to maintain good business relations and keep the money flowing, not giving a dam_n about human rights.

Actually, this occurred just after Abhisit took power, and it was found that the navy were following policy put in place by Samak in early 2008.

Absolute nonsense.

"In January 2009 Thailand’s National Security Council, led by then-Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, authorized the navy to intercept incoming Rohingya boats and detain the passengers before pushing them back to sea. Later that year, Thai security forces were captured on video towing boats with Rohingya out to sea, which the government initially denied, but which Abhisit later conceded, saying, “I have some reason to believe some of this happened.” While the recent “help on” strategy has meant that intercepted boats are re-provisioned, the Thai navy is still pushing back to sea boats filled with Rohingya, with some deadly results."

http://www.hrw.org/n...gya-boat-people

And when did he become PM? The navy were following the policy set by Samak.

Actually, this occurred just after Abhisit took power, and it was found that the navy were following policy put in place by Samak in early 2008.

Rohingyas and Hmong refugees, as well

Washington, D.C.--A coalition of Lao and Hmong organizations in Washington, D.C. have denounced the visit of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to Laos following his government's brutal forced repatriation of Lao-Hmong refugees and asylum seekers in recent days back to Laos as well as the Lao military’s new offensive against unarmed Lao and Hmong civilians and political opposition groups.

http://www.prlog.org/10054252-visit-to-laos-samak-blasted-over-killings-repatriation-of-hmong.html

Rohingyas are scattered over Bang­ladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Ar­­abia, Thailand and the UAE. Refugee flows of the Muslim Rohingyas to Malaysia have risen since 2006, naturally attracted to a relatively close, prosperous and Muslim-majority Malaysia.

For years, Thai authorities had been lax about flows into Thailand, thinking that these Rohingyas were only “passing through” into Malaysia. But the former government of prime minister Samak Sundaravej tightened controls, and boatloads of refugees have since reportedly been towed into sea.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/29/focus/3141439&sec=focus