REFUGEES

Rohingya refugees to get care: PM

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Humanitarian care would be provided for Rohingya minority people from Myanmar - for the time being - and Thailand would seek help from the United Nations and other international groups to try to resolve their plight, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Concerned agencies are in the process of classifying some 857 Rohingya people who illegally entered Thailand recently, the Ministry's permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow said yesterday.

Sihasak said most of the Rohingya were men (667), but they include 30 women, and 160 minors aged below 18.

"We will proceed in line with laws and humanitarian principle," he explained.

By law, the Rohingya had committed the offence of entering Thailand illegally, so they have already been charged.

"But first and foremost, we have to take care of them on humanitarian grounds," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said. There was no immediate plan to deport the Rohingya back to Myanmar or send them to a third country as of now, she said.

The PM also explained that a deportation, if it occurred, would be conducted in consultation with the UN.

Sihasak said relevant authorities would have to request a budget from the Cabinet for the provision of care provided to the Rohingya. "Budget is an important factor."

An informed source claimed many Rohingya got assistance to travel to Malaysia before but now the country had less demand for these workers. "Due to the agreement signed with Bangladesh, Malaysia has hired more Bangladeshi workers."

The prime minister discussed the situation yesterday with top officials including Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul and Navy chief Admiral Surasak Rounreungrom, asking them to seek a proper solution to handle the refugees. Yingluck assigned Surapong to talk with the UN about assistance.

Sihasak said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration, and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef), had expressed concern and a wish to help the Rohingya.

Yingluck asked the Navy to take care of concerns over the Rohingya, to stop them getting involved in violence in the far South.

Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdith said he would propose that the UN step in to ensure the Rohingya don't starve and can migrate to a third country.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority who endured serious conflict with Buddhists in Rakhine State that left dozens dead and tens of thousands homeless.

BOY, 10, TELLS OF FAMILY'S SLAUGHTER

Speaking via an interpreter from a state shelter in Narathiwat, a 10-year-old Rohingya boy yesterday said Myanmar used brutal violence against Muslims in Rakhine State. "My parents and all my four older siblings were killed," Nurahazim said. His body was scarred with many knife wounds and sores from being beaten.

"A rich man there helped us (survive the violence) by giving us a boat. So, we went to the sea and hoped we could reach a Muslim country," the boy said.

According to Nurahazim, his boat went ashore in Thailand and a man identifying himself as a soldier promised to help transfer them to Malaysia if given Bt150,000 per head. In the end, they were put in the hands of human traffickers.

"I feel hurt," Nurahazim said, adding he would be dead if he was deported back to Rakhine State.

Thai authorities have already issued arrest warrants for suspects trafficking the Rohingya.

-- The Nation 2013-01-16

Now that politicians have been implicated in what could be a large Human Trafficking operations, the Govt steps up the the plate? Very political...

According to another Thailand newspaper, PM Yingluck commanded the Thai Navy to turn the Rohingya back at sea before they put foot on Thai soil.

According to another Thailand newspaper, PM Yingluck commanded the Thai Navy to turn the Rohingya back at sea before they put foot on Thai soil.

"Yingluck asked the Navy to take care of concerns over the Rohingya, to stop them getting involved in violence in the far South"

Per the OP, you can read many things into this statement...so you may be right...

Now that politicians have been implicated in what could be a large Human Trafficking operations, the Govt steps up the the plate? Very political...

Who wants to take a bet that the politician(s) involved will never be named and it will never be mentioned again?

Thailand and this govt have a great opportunity here in so many ways.

Thailand has a severe shortage of people to work in several industries, Thai's refuse to work in. This makes human trafficking a great opportunity for the scum of the earth, to provide that labor.

The govt could encourage these companies and give incentives to let these people work, on the condition they are treated like humans, given decent food and a place to live for a REASONABLE deduction in their pay.

Doing this Thailand would:

1. Look like hero's in the world eyes

2. Improving their status on the human trafficking watch list

3. Meet the labor demand for Thai companies

4. Put many human traffickers out of business

Ok I am dreaming, time for

Thailand and this govt have a great opportunity here in so many ways.

Thailand has a severe shortage of people to work in several industries, Thai's refuse to work in. This makes human trafficking a great opportunity for the scum of the earth, to provide that labor.

The govt could encourage these companies and give incentives to let these people work, on the condition they are treated like humans, given decent food and a place to live for a REASONABLE deduction in their pay.

Doing this Thailand would:

1. Look like hero's in the world eyes

2. Improving their status on the human trafficking watch list

3. Meet the labor demand for Thai companies

4. Put many human traffickers out of business

Ok I am dreaming, time for

Fully agree with you.

Thailand could follow the old H.K. "touch base" policy with the Vietnamese boat people, which in the early days gave them ID cards and held them in open camps which they could leave for employment etc, pending eventual resettlement in a third country.

It worked well for thousands of people.

According to another Thailand newspaper, PM Yingluck commanded the Thai Navy to turn the Rohingya back at sea before they put foot on Thai soil.

"Yingluck asked the Navy to take care of concerns over the Rohingya, to stop them getting involved in violence in the far South"

Per the OP, you can read many things into this statement...so you may be right...

The sub head was "Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the cabinet are concerned about a surge of illegal Rohingya migrants requiring care and UNHCR conferences - and she has ordered the Navy to head off future groups. "

I took "Head off" to mean turn back

Edited January 16, 201313 yr by noitom

According to another Thailand newspaper, PM Yingluck commanded the Thai Navy to turn the Rohingya back at sea before they put foot on Thai soil.

"Yingluck asked the Navy to take care of concerns over the Rohingya, to stop them getting involved in violence in the far South"

Per the OP, you can read many things into this statement...so you may be right...

The sub head was "Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the cabinet are concerned about a surge of illegal Rohingya migrants requiring care and UNHCR conferences - and she has ordered the Navy to head off future groups. "

I took "Head off" to mean turn back

Read that story a couple of times. The govt is really dancing around this issue. Of course they have to be, with all the news relating to this story coming out. Local govt officials implicated in the trafficking of these people. This is a bad time for all this, as Thailand is getting dangerously close to making the 3rd tier watch list for human trafficking, and making it very clear they could care less about it.

Our PM is a humanitarian leader and I commend her demonstration of compassion and generosity.

I am sure the children of today will remember our beloved PM's salient statement;

"But first and foremost, we have to take care of them on humanitarian grounds"

I am touched by her leadership on this issue. I am almost moved to tears.

Once the attention dies down, they can then be shipped to concentration camps comfortable rehabilitation centers and decide on the weighty issue of whether they wish to return home or be forcibly removed, whichever option they think is best.

Thailand and this govt have a great opportunity here in so many ways.

Thailand has a severe shortage of people to work in several industries, Thai's refuse to work in. This makes human trafficking a great opportunity for the scum of the earth, to provide that labor.

The govt could encourage these companies and give incentives to let these people work, on the condition they are treated like humans, given decent food and a place to live for a REASONABLE deduction in their pay.

Doing this Thailand would:

1. Look like hero's in the world eyes

2. Improving their status on the human trafficking watch list

3. Meet the labor demand for Thai companies

4. Put many human traffickers out of business

Ok I am dreaming, time for

Fully agree with you.

Thailand could follow the old H.K. "touch base" policy with the Vietnamese boat people, which in the early days gave them ID cards and held them in open camps which they could leave for employment etc, pending eventual resettlement in a third country.

It worked well for thousands of people.

I like this line

"Sihasak said relevant authorities would have to request a budget from the Cabinet for the provision of care provided to the Rohingya. "Budget is an important factor."

In other words even though they knew it was going on they had never planed to do any thing humanatarian about it just send them back or don't let them land.

Now all of a sudden the cat is out of the bag and they have to look good. (The Thai priority thing)

this covers all the previous governments.

Well one thing for sure they won't run out of rice to feed them

Our PM is a humanitarian leader and I commend her demonstration of compassion and generosity.

I am sure the children of today will remember our beloved PM's salient statement;

"But first and foremost, we have to take care of them on humanitarian grounds"

I am touched by her leadership on this issue. I am almost moved to tears.

Once the attention dies down, they can then be shipped to concentration camps comfortable rehabilitation centers and decide on the weighty issue of whether they wish to return home or be forcibly removed, whichever option they think is best.

I have been told that the Thai government no longer supplies 100% of the daily nutritional requirements to the Burmese refugee camps in Mai Sot. They now supply only 75%

One would think that with all the rice they have they could up the supply.

Well one thing for sure they won't run out of rice to feed them

Just as long as they pay the inflated price for it.

"But first and foremost, we have to take care of them on humanitarian grounds," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said. There was no immediate plan to deport the Rohingya back to Myanmar or send them to a third country as of now, she said.

The lady seems to have been told that as PM she might be personally responsible and could be sued accordingly :-)

Why they don't go back to Bangladesh, where they are belong to? Or they want to aid terrorist attacks in South of Thailand? So many men but only a handful of women. It smells not right.

Thailand grants access to presumed Rohingya: UN

BANGKOK, Jan 16, 2013 (AFP) - The UN's refugee arm said Wednesday it had permission from Thailand to access some 850 people, many thought to be from Myanmar's Rohingya minority, held after raids on hidden camps in the Thai south.

Hundreds of migrants have been arrested in the past week in police sweeps on remote areas in rubber plantations near the border with Malaysia, leading the UNHCR to seek to confirm whether any of them plan to seek asylum.

"The Thai authorities have agreed in principle to give us access to this group," Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office, told AFP.

"There are likely to be Rohingya among them, but we can't confirm their identity without us first talking to them and doing a preliminary assessment."

She said no date had been agreed yet, but that the UN was pushing to do the interviews "as soon as possible".

Thousands of Muslim-minority Rohingya have fled communal unrest in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine, heading to Thailand and other countries.

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.

The UN, which has called Rohingya one of the world's most persecuted peoples, has urged Myanmar's neighbours to open their borders to people escaping the communal violence.

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.

Thailand has faced pressure from rights groups to do more to help Rohingya migrants who reach its territory. The country has been accused of pushing them into neighbouring countries including Malaysia, which offers them sanctuary.

Human Rights Watch has said women and children are increasingly among the boatloads of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-01-16

If Thailand wants to pawn them off on Malaysia, I frankly think it is a good idea. There is a big concern mentioned in the articles: that the Rohingya will join the Southern insurgency. That is a real and legitimate concern as far as I am concerned.

The Rohingya are not in any way connected to the Thai people. Unlike Thai Muslims, they do not share the Thai language, or Thai customs or anything that would help them assimilate to Thai society. Thai Muslims, are still Thai. The Rohingya are not. They are a stateless people right now. And as stateless people, I could see them joining the separatists and creating their own state.

As a background, here's a history on the Rohyingya and Myanmar. The reason Myanmar wants to kick them out is that there has been a long standing insurgency of the Rohingya people in Myanmar (note the discussion of the relationship to Al Quida)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_conflict_in_Western_Burma

Read also this article to see why they are unwanted in Bangladesh and their connection to terrorism:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/201281684646546896.html

Islam is an tolerant religion but it is used by fundamentalists to steer up problems to anyone how don’t think like them, extremism doesn’t affect just the western countries but mostly the locals living in Muslim countries like Somalia and Afghanistan and so on! I am an atheist and which that all religions will be banned one day!!!

These are trafficked people fleeing a state that doesn't want them even though many have been born & raised in Burma. Just because they are Muslim there has to be a conspiracy theory that they might join the southern insurgents - no evidence of that exists.

They were on their way to Malaysia which has a more humanitarian attitude to people fleeing violence so the onus is on Thailand to allow the UN to help the refugees and try to find a country to willingly take them. As mentioned above, Thailand is a trafficking country and a few are involved in this case. It's about time the Thai government did the right thing even though it may not be for the right reasons.

^^I'm not on the Muslim conspiracy thing. There's nothing wrong with being Muslim. I like Muslims. However, I do not like armed religious fanaticism in the name of God either.

The problem is these people were already at war with Myanmar for a long time. That is why Myanmar doesn't want them. The Al Jazeera article (and I am not a fan of Al Jazeera) talks about why Bangladesh doesn't want them either. Something about them being "religious bigots" that were were swaying politics:

"The Awami League is a secular party wedded to Bengali linguistic nationalism, and their leaders see the Rohingya as religious bigots who support their rivals in Bangladesh's Islamic party, the Jamait-e-Islami. Bangladesh intelligence officials say the Jamait-e-Islami support the Rohingya insurgent groups that have fought Myanmar forces and routed funds from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to them through a network of Islamic NGOs."

They have no connection with Thailand. If you bring in a group of people with no connection to Thailand, and a history of insurgency in their own country, you are looking at bringing in insurgency to Thailand. These are people that want a state of their own. I can certainly see them joining in the Southern insurgency. If Malaysia will have them, by all means they should go to Malaysia.

Edited January 16, 201313 yr by submaniac

^^I'm not on the Muslim conspiracy thing. There's nothing wrong with being Muslim. The problem is these people were already at war with Myanmar for a long time. That is why Myanmar doesn't want them. The Al Jazeera article (and I am not a fan of Al Jazeera) talks about why Bangladesh doesn't want them either. Something about them being "religious bigots" that were were swaying politics:

"The Awami League is a secular party wedded to Bengali linguistic nationalism, and their leaders see the Rohingya as religious bigots who support their rivals in Bangladesh's Islamic party, the Jamait-e-Islami. Bangladesh intelligence officials say the Jamait-e-Islami support the Rohingya insurgent groups that have fought Myanmar forces and routed funds from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to them through a network of Islamic NGOs."

They have no connection with Thailand. If you bring in a group of people with no connection to Thailand, and a history of insurgency in their own country, you are looking at bringing in insurgency to Thailand. If Malaysia will have them, by all means they should go to Malaysia.

I'm sorry but the piece you quoted from Bangladesh has no credibility. The ruling party there always paints the opposition as supporting 'terrorism' when it's really political finger-pointing. The Bangladeshi 'intelligence' source is nothing but another arm of the ruling party.

The problem is complex & not easily explained by sound bites. In Burma, the Rohingya have been subject to the most appalling violence by nationalist Buddhist groups (including, unfortunately, monks). Many are in reality Burmese but unwanted & not granted civil rights because of prejudice. Yes, there are economic refugees that have come from Bangladesh but there has been no attempt to separate the refugees from the residents.

There is no insurgency, only an ethnic & sectarian conflict in Rakhine state with the Rohingya as the victims.

Not to pick a fight or anything, but what of the wikipedia article with the heading

"Military expansions and connections with Taliban and Al-Qaeda (1988-2011)"

and also states specific incidents and facts linking the Rohingya with militant extremists, such as the various meetings with the Rohingya insurgents and al qaeda?

If you ask me do I think these people are oppressed? Yes, I do. Should they be allowed back in Myanmar or have their own state? Yes, I do. Do I think the Thais should take them in? No, I think it is dangerous.

Not to pick a fight or anything, but what of the wikipedia article with the heading

"Military expansions and connections with Taliban and Al-Qaeda (1988-2011)"

and also states specific incidents and facts linking the Rohingya with militant extremists, such as the various meetings with the Rohingya insurgents and al qaeda?

If you ask me do I think these people are oppressed? Yes, I do. Should they be allowed back in Myanmar or have their own state? Yes, I do. Do I think the Thais should take them in? No, I think it is dangerous.

OK, I'll have a look at the wikipedia article but one needs scepticism as it depends on who wrote it & their agenda.

I agree with tour second paragraph except to say that it's up to the Thai government to accept them or not & I don't think it's dangerous either way.

Not to pick a fight or anything, but what of the wikipedia article with the heading

"Military expansions and connections with Taliban and Al-Qaeda (1988-2011)"

and also states specific incidents and facts linking the Rohingya with militant extremists, such as the various meetings with the Rohingya insurgents and al qaeda?

If you ask me do I think these people are oppressed? Yes, I do. Should they be allowed back in Myanmar or have their own state? Yes, I do. Do I think the Thais should take them in? No, I think it is dangerous.

OK, I'll have a look at the wikipedia article but one needs scepticism as it depends on who wrote it & their agenda.

I agree with tour second paragraph except to say that it's up to the Thai government to accept them or not & I don't think it's dangerous either way.

Update:

I've read the Wiki articles under the heading you mentioned; it's hard going to get a sense of the conflict in Arakan state. The liberation of Bangladesh, the Rohingya on both sides of the border, alleged links with the Taliban; Al Qaeda (for fighters in Afghanistan), refusal of Burma to grant them civil rights (not dissimilar to other minorities in Burma), crackdowns by the Burmese military, small groups of Rohingya insurgents, etc, etc.

Most of the above took place in the last century; there is argument about some of the activities. Apart from a small group of insurgents - probably connected to Bangladeshi groups - there is no evidence (even on Wiki) of a recent insurgency. So, I would say that there has been an insurgency but it's old history except for minor incidents between the remnants & the military (less than some of the Karen, Kachin & other insurgencies).

Edited January 16, 201313 yr by Scott
formatting

...suddenly, with the spotlight...and so many negotiations in the region.......we find....'humanitarian gestures'.......nauseating....

As a background, here's a history on the Rohyingya and Myanmar. The reason Myanmar wants to kick them out is that there has been a long standing insurgency of the Rohingya people in Myanmar (note the discussion of the relationship to Al Quida)

http://en.wikipedia....n_Western_Burma

Read also this article to see why they are unwanted in Bangladesh and their connection to terrorism:

http://www.aljazeera...4646546896.html

Thank you for an informative and educational post.

Islam is an tolerant religion but it is used by fundamentalists to steer up problems to anyone how don’t think like them, extremism doesn’t affect just the western countries but mostly the locals living in Muslim countries like Somalia and Afghanistan and so on! I am an atheist and which that all religions will be banned one day!!!

You might as well be a Muslim. That is what they are trying to do. Control peoples religious views by Government.

The Rohingya are not likely to join the southern insurgency. Those that attempt to push such a claim, really are grasping at straws and belie either a fear or hatred of muslims in general. The assumption that muslims are a homogeneous group is just outright silly. If that was the case, we wouldn't have shiites and sunnis killing each other all over the place would we?

I do feel sorry for the Rohingyas. No one really cares about their plight and certainly no muslim country has taken up their cause or been generous with aid. We don't see the usual Euro lefties swarming on the streets on their behalf. No freedom flotillas from Turkey or Egypt. Mr. Galloway hasn't said a word, and no thunderous welcome at the UN for their community leaders. The usual double standard of the world applies here. Maybe once they start going kaboom and create a kleptocracy, these countries will care and rally to their side.