Thailand Denies Shooting Rohingya Boat People

[webfact]

Thailand denies shooting Rohingya boat people

BANGKOK, March 13, 2013 (AFP) - Thailand on Wednesday denied accusations its sailors shot Rohingya boat people fleeing sectarian strife in Myanmar, after a rights group urged a probe into the alleged deaths of at least two migrants.

Survivors of the alleged incident on February 22 told Human Rights Watch that sailors opened fire on around 20 Rohingya migrants, killing two of them, as they jumped overboard to escape custody after drifting into Thai waters.

But the incident near a pier in Kuraburi district, southern Phang Nga province, was strenuously denied by Thai officials.

"The Thai navy commander responsible for that area has rejected the report," said foreign ministry spokesman Manasvi Srisodapol, adding there is "no reason to shoot or hurt" Rohingya.

Also refuting the claims, defence ministry spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsang said Thailand acts "on humanitarian principles," providing food and water before allowing the boat people to continue south, towards Malaysia.

The kingdom has faced criticism for pushing Rohingya -- who have fled in their thousands since Buddhist-Muslim tensions exploded in their home state of Rakhine in June last year -- towards Malaysia or detaining them as illegal immigrants once they are on Thai soil.

In January Thailand was also forced to probe allegations that army officials were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya -- who are easy prey for people smugglers demanding large sums of money to transport them to Malaysia.

Those unable to pay are believed to be forced into labour in Thailand.

The Thai government has repeatedly promised to investigate all allegations of human rights violations against the Rohingya.

HRW said the shooting took place as the group of Rohingya jumped from their boat fearing they were about to be detained, prompting the sailors to fire warning shots into the air and then directly into the water.

"Rohingya fleeing Burma (Myanmar) should be given protection, not shot at," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The Thai government should urgently investigate why sailors opened fire at boat people helpless in the sea and prosecute all those found responsible."

The UN describe Rohingya as among the most persecuted minority groups in the world. Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-03-13

[DiamondKing]

Bit Like them denying they shot any red Shirts during the Demo in Bkk

[anon467367354]

As one Thai official put it, "we can't take care of the Rohingya people" I don't think they are coming here to be taken cared of, they want to work. What's wrong with letting them work? Of course they denied shooting at them, that would be a heck of a thing to admit wouldn't it?

[OzMick]

Yesterday the ABC News (Oz) had a segment on claims of RT Navy abuses and people smuggling - along with a statement that an investigation had cleared navy officers.

Not all publicity is good.

[Pimay1]

Bit Like them denying they shot any red Shirts during the Demo in Bkk

[Lingba]

yes of course they denied it.....and I'm in the running to be the next Pope

[reiltin]

Sue Brad Adams just like Andy Hall.....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/624318-british-activist-fighting-to-avoid-thai-jail-term/

[Payboy]

Sure, drowning in the Andaman sea causes bullet-like wounds.

[Briggsy]

Just as they denied having towed a boat full of refugees out into the ocean and leaving it there to drift having removed the engines.....Until video evidence proved otherwise. Thai military is accountable to no-one. When it misbehaves by killing people and the such like, it doesn't need to admit anything.

[rubl]

When our PM declared a few weeks ago that refugees would be taken care of I didn't know she meant in this way. May be she didn't know either because no one told her ?

[LuckyLew]

I thought for sure they would say "yes we shot the <deleted>"

[Locationthailand]

And what DID happen about this or were those involved too high up the food chain to be 'detained' and 'charged'???

"... Thailand was also forced to probe allegations that army officials were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya..."

[Soi Sauce]

It was the Black Shirts.

[noitom]

Whatever happened to that previous newspaper story here about the "top Thai army/navy officers" involved in trucking and transporting them to a Thai owned farm? The Thai owner of the farm was named. Is he being investigated for trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in humans? How about the Thai military officers? Are they being investigated by the "Thai authorities?" Is the press on top of this follow up?

[webfact]

Navy dismisses reports on Rohingya killings
The Nation, Agencies

BANGKOK: -- Royal Thai Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Surasak Rounroengrom dismissed the report as impossible and untrue and asserted that the Thai navy had not killed any Rohingya people as it did no more than offer them humanitarian aid. "I state that no [Thai] Navy officer could be that ruthless," he said.

Surasak said he had given orders to the Thai Navy Region 3 and Phang Nga naval base that Rohingya boats found attempting to reach Thai shores should be provided with food, water, medicines and gasoline before being towed back to sea to reach their intended final destination, as Thailand could only be a transit location. He said Thailand's policy was not to shelter or care for Rohingya refugees, but to send them back to the sea in accordance with humanitarian principles.

"I assure you that navy officers have no reason to kill Rohingya, because they are not an enemy.

"Since the policy is to push them back out to sea, we provide humanitarian aid with food and water, medicine and gas for them to continue their journey. All we do is help them, even fixing their boats [if necessary], before sending them back on their way," Surasak said.

He was speaking in response to Human Rights Watch’s claim that sailors from Thailand's Navy shot at ethnic Rohingya "boat people", causing at least two deaths.

The Thai government should immediately investigate the incident, and direct the Navy to abide by international standards on the use of force, the rights group said.

On February 22, Thai sailors near a pier in Phang Nga province fired on a group of about 20 Rohingya asylum-seekers who had been in Navy custody since the previous day, when their boat with about 130 on board had run out of fuel on its journey from Burma to Malaysia, the rights group said.

"Rohingya fleeing Burma should be given protection, not shot at," said Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director. "The Thai government should urgently investigate why sailors opened fire at boat people helpless in the sea and prosecute all those found responsible."

The survivors said that on the morning of February 20, Thai fishermen had helped their drifting boat ashore on Surin Island off the coast of Phang Nga province. On that same day, at around 6.30pm, a Thai Navy patrol boat numbered TOR214 arrived on the island and towed their boat back to the sea.

Navy patrol boat TOR214 and the Rohingya boat arrived near a pier in Kuraburi district of Phang Nga province at around 5am the next morning.

According to the survivors and Thai villagers on the shore, Navy personnel from the patrol boat began to divide the Rohingya into small groups in the boat and ordered them to get ready to board smaller boats.

At that point, the Rohingya were uncertain whether they would be taken to immigration detention on the mainland or be pushed back to the sea.

When the first group of 20 Rohingya was put on a smaller boat by the Thai navy, some panicked and jumped overboard.

"Navy personnel fired into the air three times and told us not to move," one survivor told Human Rights Watch. "But we were panicking and jumped off the boat, and then they opened fire at us in the water."

Four Rohingya who swam ashore were rescued by local Thai villagers. Thai security forces searched the area for two days after the incident, but the villagers kept the survivors hidden, the survivors said, according to the rights group.

The bodies of two Rohingya showing bullet wounds were later pulled from the sea and buried in a Muslim cemetery in Kuraburi district. Thai fishermen told Human Rights Watch they saw more dead bodies in the water but had no more information. The fate of the remaining passengers on the boat remains unknown after it was towed away by the Thai Navy.

Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government and the National Human Rights Commission to conduct thorough and transparent investigations into the shooting.

If unnecessary or excessive force is found to have been used, all those responsible, including officers who gave orders to fire, should be prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said.

Thai security forces, when performing law enforcement duties, should abide by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Human Rights Watch said.

Each year tens of thousands of ethnic Rohingya in Burma's Arakan state set sail to flee persecution by the Burmese government and dire poverty.

The situation significantly worsened in 2012 following communal violence in Arakan state in June and October targeting Rohingya and other Muslim groups.

"The Thai government should scrap its "push back" and "help on" policies that deny Rohingya boat people their right to seek asylum," Adams said.

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution. While Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, under customary international law the Thai government has an obligation of "nonrefoulement" - not to return anyone to places where their life or freedom would be at risk.


-- The Nation 2013-03-14

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[Thereisnoif]

As expected .

[rubl]

He said Thailand's policy was not to shelter or care for Rohingya refugees, but to send them back to the sea in accordance with humanitarian principles.

Did he check with the Minister of Defence, Dept. PM Pol. Captain Chalerm, or PM Yingluck first?

[FarangTalk]

Just as they denied having towed a boat full of refugees out into the ocean and leaving it there to drift having removed the engines.....Until video evidence proved otherwise. Thai military is accountable to no-one. When it misbehaves by killing people and the such like, it doesn't need to admit anything.

This.

[FarangTalk]

Seems that witnesses, other than the victims, saw the incident.

Before this country can progress they need to control their military and police. Thailand is no better than the very worst banana republics in this regard.

Unfortunately the culture prohibits this much needed progression.