Thailand finds 200 'Turkish refugees' at secret camp

[webfact]

Thailand finds 200 'Turkish refugees' at secret camp

BANGKOK, March 13, 2014 (AFP) - Thai police have discovered about 200 suspected Turkish refugees at a secret camp in the kingdom's deep south, officials said Thursday, describing the case as "unprecedented".

Thailand has long been a hub for people trafficking, with thousands of Rohingya boat people from neighbouring Myanmar believed to have passed through the kingdom in recent years.

The 200 refugees, whom police said identified themselves as Turkish, were detained after a raid on a camp in a mountainous rubber plantation on Wednesday night in the southern province of Songkhla.

"It's an unprecedented case that there are so many Turkish people arrested here," Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot said by telephone.

"They came as families and looks like they wanted to go somewhere else because they kept their belongings ready to move," he said, adding that several suspected minders had fled during the raid.

It was unclear how they arrived in Thailand. Police were waiting for an interpreter to help question the detainees, who have not yet been charged with any crime.

The Turkish embassy said it had no information about their case while the UN refugee agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In January Thailand detained more than 500 Rohingya refugees after a raid on a suspected people-trafficking camp in its deep south, a Muslim-dominated region plagued by a nearly decade-long insurgency.

Thousands of Rohingya, described by the United Nations as among the world's most persecuted minorities, have fled sectarian violence in western Myanmar in rickety boats since 2012, mostly believed to be heading for Malaysia.

Thailand said last year it was investigating allegations that some army officials in the kingdom were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-03-13

[Calimotty]

Thailand said last year it was investigating allegations that some army?( Navy ) officials in the kingdom were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya.

[Travel Dude]

Ask the management of the famous and biggest Russian Touroperator -I think i am not allowed to name them- with the logo of a horse... They are actually turkish and must be able to help translations....

[nidieunimaitre]

Turkish refugees?

That's a new one to me!

[focus27]

Thailand provides financial aid towards Syrian refugees in Turkey.

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/14/30874-Thailand-provides-financial-aid-towards-Syrian-ref.html

On a serious note, this is the kind of story that unearths a dark web of suffering.

[hanno]

Turkish refugees fleeing to somewhere via Thailand? Highly unlikely. If the wanted to get say Western Europe, there are much easier ways.

[noitom]

They are "investigating" allegations of the army and navy involvement. And they had a Thai plantation owner that was identified red handed by the Reuters report. What happened to these investigations and Thai press coverage of this?

[Thai at Heart]

They are "investigating" allegations of the army and navy involvement. And they had a Thai plantation owner that was identified red handed by the Reuters report. What happened to these investigations and Thai press coverage of this?

They are all going to be running for cover, when it turns out that these blokes on this airline, were being traficked by the Thai army/navy....And that for some bizarre reason, there were another 200 sitting out in the Thai countryside just waiting to be provided with more duff passports....Now that is really going to cover the Thai armed forces, and immigration with glory. Well lets not say glory. How about a global depth of s**t.

Everyone is going to be running around saying, I know nothing, but it will be played out on WORLD television how Thailand is the hubtastic hub of people traficking, not carried out by drug smugglers, but actually government employees. Lovely.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Thai at Heart

[CNXBKKMAN]

Turkish refugees fleeing to somewhere via Thailand? Highly unlikely. If the wanted to get say Western Europe, there are much easier ways.

I guess they would be heading to Australia.

[fab4]

They are "investigating" allegations of the army and navy involvement. And they had a Thai plantation owner that was identified red handed by the Reuters report. What happened to these investigations and Thai press coverage of this?

Perhaps this is the sensational corruption conspiracy that the PDRC were going to reveal. Hang on, rubber plantation in the south, oh well, maybe not, a bit too close to home.

[simple1]

Turkish refugees fleeing to somewhere via Thailand? Highly unlikely. If the wanted to get say Western Europe, there are much easier ways.

I guess they would be heading to Australia.

It would be one of their worst options to try entry to Australia.

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

Edited March 13, 2014 by simple1

[webfact]

SONGKHLA
Unidentifiable group of Muslims nabbed
SANTIPARP RAMMASUT,
CHULARAT SAENGPASSA
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- A GROUP of 220 reportedly Muslim immigrants, whose nationality and origin was not known to Thai authorities as of press time yesterday, have been arrested at a rubber plantation in the southern province of Songkhla.

The police are unable to communicate with the group, which consists of 82 children, 78 men and 60 women, as they speak a tongue that has yet to be identified by Thai immigration and authorities. A Turkish-speaking interpreter was called in to interview them because it was initially believed that the group might hail from Turkey. The detainees were moved to an immigration office in Hat Yai district, before the women and children were moved to a shelter.

The women in the group were wearing hijab, with a netted opening for the eyes, while the men were found wearing casual attire. An immigration police officer noted that the group was comprised mostly of families and carried luggage like the sort used by normal international travellers. He added that their clothes were still clean, which possibly indicated that they had only just arrived in Thailand. He also said that they appeared to be Chinese looking.

Reporters' also observed that the detainees were dressed in expensive-looking clothes and had sophisticated mobile devices.

"We are trying to check if they are Uighurs from China," said Sunai Phasuk, Thailand's representative for Human Rights Watch. Uighurs are a Muslim group from China’s Xinjiang province, whose language has Turkish roots.

Upon detaining the group, the authorities first provided them with food and water, along with medical assistance for those appearing unwell. Police initially thought they might be Rohingya boat people entering Thailand illegally from Myanmar.

Officials from the United Nations Head Commissioner on Refugees have been coordinating with the authorities to take care of the group, and have enlisted help from Arab speakers to try and communicate with the group. So far, no charges of illegal entry or criminal activities have been pressed on them.

A few men reportedly escaped when the police closed in on the group in response to an alert from local residents. No details were available about the escapees as of press time.

Immigration police commander Pol Maj-General Thawatchai Pitanilabutr, who led the inspection of the plantation, said several Rohingya were also being sheltered near the farm and police are checking to see if the two groups had anything in common in relation to their travel into Thailand.

Pol Lt-Colonel Paisith Sangkhahapong, director of the Department of Special Investigation anti-human trafficking centre, said the agency had not yet looked into the incident, hence it could not determine if it was related to a crime under its jurisdiction.

He said if the group hailed from Turkey, this would be the largest group of Turkish people travelling via Thailand. He went on to say that Thailand should not be a route for human trafficking from Turkey as there were other routes available via Europe.


-- The Nation 2014-03-14

[chooka]

Turkish refugees fleeing to somewhere via Thailand? Highly unlikely. If the wanted to get say Western Europe, there are much easier ways.

I guess they would be heading to Australia.

It would be one of their worst options to try entry to Australia.

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

But if they get a stolen or fake passport and fly into Australia then they avoid the PNG thing.

[Card]

They're on their way to Australia (just seen someone else has the same idea - sorry to repeat.)

Edited March 14, 2014 by Card

[rwhoov]

Thailand said last year it was investigating allegations that some army?( Navy ) officials in the kingdom were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya.

I'm shocked... and stunned!

[coma]

Australia! Hospitality is too generous an opportunity to miss out on. Glad they got caught. Good work to all the authorities involved.

[Old Croc]

Traditionally Turkish refugee claimants in Australia are Kurdish.

Even if a group like this managed to get on a plane to Australia on false euro passports, they wouldn't get through the arrival airport.

[Greg Nixon]

kurdish Turks ? Looking around the world for moslem refuge from persecution at home ? A thai moslem remote area - possibly ideal ? Ready to move if it is not. Kurds are quite wealthy. That might explain their presence so far from Turkey.

[englishoak]

The police are unable to communicate with the group, which consists of 82 children, 78 men and 60 women, as they speak a tongue that has yet to be identified by Thai immigration and authorities. A Turkish-speaking interpreter was called in to interview them because it was initially believed that the group might hail from Turkey.

So that was a wild guess the are from turkey but naaaaa just a good old wild Thai stab at a guess, really nothing but a load of media bull to make a headline... nice one

[Old Croc]

According to the PW web site one of the men said his name was 'Baburt' which is a Turkish or Kurd name.

It's also thought they could be Uighur people from China with Turkish origins.

They also could very well be Kurds from Syria.

Incidentally, there's no way family groups like this could travel on false passports in the same way as a few English speaking individuals from the middle east have done.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Old Croc

[bigbamboo]

Turkish refugees fleeing to somewhere via Thailand? Highly unlikely. If the wanted to get say Western Europe, there are much easier ways.

I guess they would be heading to Australia.

It would be one of their worst options to try entry to Australia.

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

Steady on, sport.

You can't judge a country solely by it's people!

[Morakot]

http://www.dailysabah.com/world/2014/03/13/thailand-finds-200-uighur-refugees-at-secret-camp

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/200-Turkish-refugees-at-secret-camp-30229149.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/thailand-finds-200-turkish-refugees-at-secret-camp.aspx?pageID=238&nID=63530&NewsCatID=356

Edited March 14, 2014 by Morakot

[jagriffin2]

Seems most of these bloggers just don't get the big picture. Too busy trying to be Jerry Seinfeld. Moslems are colonizing all over the world. shipping their poor, dumb uneducated moslems robots out to set up mosques and them be taken over by the wahabi salafist brain trust. they have been at it for over 1400 years and most people are just too stupid to know history repeats itself. Only ones more patient are the Han Chinese.

[Benmart]

Reality and the world wide web will seal the fate of the LOS. It is slipping further down the ladder with each sensational story that unfolds.

I feel for these refugees. Not having a home is indeed something most people have not experienced.

[theslime]

Seems most of these bloggers just don't get the big picture. Too busy trying to be Jerry Seinfeld. Moslems are colonizing all over the world. shipping their poor, dumb uneducated moslems robots out to set up mosques and them be taken over by the wahabi salafist brain trust. they have been at it for over 1400 years and most people are just too stupid to know history repeats itself. Only ones more patient are the Han Chinese.

What happens if these Muslims aren,t Sunni, your bit on Wahabi is out the Window. Muslims Colonising, could you give me any example of Muslims colonising A country in the last 100 years.

[brit1984]

so the authorities are trying to guess their nationality by guessing what language they are speaking then bringing in interpreters of that language they guessed to determine if that guess was the right guess or if the guessing game needs to be repeated...

maybe a world map and some hand gestures could save a lot of time

[GentlemanJim]

Seems most of these bloggers just don't get the big picture. Too busy trying to be Jerry Seinfeld. Moslems are colonizing all over the world. shipping their poor, dumb uneducated moslems robots out to set up mosques and them be taken over by the wahabi salafist brain trust. they have been at it for over 1400 years and most people are just too stupid to know history repeats itself. Only ones more patient are the Han Chinese.

What happens if these Muslims aren,t Sunni, your bit on Wahabi is out the Window. Muslims Colonising, could you give me any example of Muslims colonising A country in the last 100 years.

Errrm apart from UK, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Canada, USA, Denmark, nope I can't think of any.

[glaswegian]

well, as a person who spent a few years teaching in Turkey, i make bold to say that they are not turkish, i for one assume they are syrian refugees holding turkish passport

[Tahmid]

Seems most of these bloggers just don't get the big picture. Too busy trying to be Jerry Seinfeld. Moslems are colonizing all over the world. shipping their poor, dumb uneducated moslems robots out to set up mosques and them be taken over by the wahabi salafist brain trust. they have been at it for over 1400 years and most people are just too stupid to know history repeats itself. Only ones more patient are the Han Chinese.

What happens if these Muslims aren,t Sunni, your bit on Wahabi is out the Window. Muslims Colonising, could you give me any example of Muslims colonising A country in the last 100 years.

Errrm apart from UK, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Canada, USA, Denmark, nope I can't think of any.

Of the countries you named, I don't see any of them "colonised" my Muslims. US has 0.8%, UK has 4.6 and Germany at 5. Source

What the Europeans did to America or the British to South Asia is what is known as "colonising". This on the other hand is referred to as "migrating", if my English isn't all wrong.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Tahmid

[louse1953]

Turkish refugees?

That's a new one to me!

Kurds.