Mass graveyard with Rohinya bodies found near Thai Malaysian border

[webfact]

Mass graveyard with Rohinya bodies found near Thai Malaysian border



BANGKOK: -- A mass graveyard near the Thai Malaysian border in Padang Besar district of Songkhka was found today by Thai authorities.

The graveyard buried the decomposed bodies of 33 people, believed to be Rohinya migrants.

The finding came after Thai border authorities were alerted by a Malaysian national that a large graveyard was found near the Padang Besar border.

Police and district officials went to inspect the area and found 33 tombs where the bodies were buried.

Another decomposed body was also lied at the area and was not yet buried.

Investigations later revealed that earlier the area was used by some 200-300 Rohinya migrants who smuggled into the country, and lived there.

Villagers said these migrants died of sickness and some died in fighting after having quarrels among themselves.

However as the authorities arrived at the area today, the area was left vacant and all Rohingya migrants had escaped, believed to cross into Malaysian border.

Royal Thai Police commissioner Pool Gen Somyot Phumphanmuang confirmed the graveyard finding but said it was used as a detention centre by human traffickers.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/mass-graveyard-with-rohinya-bodies-found-near-thai-malaysian-border

-- Thai PBS 2015-05-01

[toonsai]

Human traffickers closely linked to local politician mafia and corrupted Thai Police.

Quick, quick let's find some Burmese or Cambodian scapegoats

[JAG]

A camp used as a detention centre for 300 people? 33 bodies, and no-one knew? Defies belief.

A lot of people must have known what was going on.

[ezzra]

Dare a foreigner enter Thailand without a visa or god forbid his visa is out of order, but still, in this

very borders of this country people are smuggled, detained and traded like livestock and no one

seems to care or know, worst of all, when no one want to buy or there is no use for them any longer,

they're put to death like stray dogs, a blight and a disgrace on our society that such things allowed

to happened in the 21st century....

[webfact]

Mass grave of 'boat people' found in southern Thailand
AFP

BANGKOK: -- Around 30 graves believed to belong to migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were discovered Friday in southern Thailand, officials said, in an area criss-crossed with trafficking routes.

The grave site was found in Sadao district of Songkhla province at an abandoned camp for 'boatpeople' who had apparently been trafficked to Thailand's border area with Malaysia, a zone notorious for housing remote camps for trafficked migrants.

"There are 32 graves, four bodies have now been exhumed and are on their way... to hospital to for an autopsy," Sathit Thamsuwan a rescue worker, who was at the scene soon after the site was found, told AFP.

"The bodies were all decayed," he said, adding a single man from Bangladesh survived and is being treated at a hospital in nearby Padang Besar.

The local hospital confirmed the Bangladeshi man had survived and was in a stable condition.

The grisly discovery of the grave was also confirmed by a senior official from Sadao.

"There are more than 20 graves," he said, requesting anonymity.

"Military and border patrol police have now cordoned the area off so we can bring forensic officials to the site."

Tens of thousands of migrants from Myanmar -- mainly from the Rohingya Muslim minority -- and increasingly from Bangladesh make the dangerous sea crossing to southern Thailand, a well worn trafficking route often on the way south to Malaysia and beyond.

Thousands of Rohingya -- described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- have fled deadly communal unrest in western Myanmar's Rakhine state since 2012.

Thailand has been criticised in the past for pushing boatloads of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea and for holding migrants in overcrowded facilities.

The ruling junta says it has taken significant steps to combat trafficking since June, when the United States dumped Thailand to the bottom of its list of countries accused of failing to tackle modern-day slavery.

In January, Thai authorities confirmed more than a dozen government officials -- including senior policemen and a navy officer -- are being prosecuted for involvement or complicity in human trafficking.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-05-01

[tonerod]

The price of survival... Bothers and sisters, Mothers and Fathers, force to leave their home in hope of something better. Most of us from the western world may never to able to comprehend this.

R.I.P. to all you lose souls.

[berg1666]

That is 33 lives that have been lost. 33 sons/daughters, brothers/sisters and/or Fathers and Mothers.

<deleted> people, have some sense of gravitas. They were just people like you and me, seeking a better life. Who knows? There might have been the next Tesla/Einstein/Pascal amongst them.

Show some respect. It is always someone's loss.

Sometimes the callousness of this board smacks me in the face, and I come out with a bloody nose. This really is a tragedy.

[ChrisY1]

That is 33 lives that have been lost. 33 sons/daughters, brothers/sisters and/or Fathers and Mothers.

<deleted> people, have some sense of gravitas. They were just people like you and me, seeking a better life. Who knows? There might have been the next Tesla/Einstein/Pascal amongst them.

Show some respect. It is always someone's loss.

Sometimes the callousness of this board smacks me in the face, and I come out with a bloody nose. This really is a tragedy.

Whom are you refering to please.......there's only 4-5 posts of which none seem abusive or callous?

[SOTIRIOS]

....human rights.....

[JAG]

I find it particularly telling that the official quoted did so anonymously. That rather suggested that he knows who is behind this, and that that individual/group have influence or power.

These relevations, and they are not the first are they, are a foul stain on Thailands reputation and that of its governments, of whatever political persuasion. It must be sorted, immediately, and irrespective of whoevers reputation is harmed, face lost or business hurt. If Thailand is not up to the task then international action (sanctions) are appropriate.

I know this may sound pompous, but if Thailand is to remain anything but an international pariah this must be sorted out. Quickly

Edited May 1, 2015 by JAG

[callaway]

The price of survival... Bothers and sisters, Mothers and Fathers, force to leave their home in hope of something better. Most of us from the western world may never to able to comprehend this.

R.I.P. to all you lose souls.

I think berg666 was referring to this post as the writer made a grammatical error in his last sentence. Even blind freddy could see it was just a wording mistake if all his post was read. He was showing compassion berg and maybe english is not his first language. Read properly before being gobsmacked please. It will save you a lot of heart ache.

[Suffinator]

Time Thailand was banished from the UN and the other UN members piled on the sanctions. Time to bring Thailand to book for human rights atrocities .... they did it with Saddam and Iraq why not Thailand?

[gigman]

It should be no problem to find out how they died.. and which hands involved in this.

Probably traffickers and those on the border knows best what happened

[Nick167]

I hope that the US, Euro Groupings and the UN takes note of this.

[John Kane]

The comments took an interesting turn. Many of us are used to seeing very callous comments about Thai people as well as comments attacking Thai police or government. This is a little different - and good to see - because we here are showing some kindness for the suffering of the smuggled people. I doubt these people meet the definition of trafficked people and are much more likely to have been smuggled. The difference is important because so many activities are thrown under the trafficking umbrella that a whole new sensationalized category of crime is the result. We are in the process of demonizing the word "trafficking" to mean something stronger than it really is just as the word prostitution is mush more volatile than "sex worker" - and that is the point. Demonize something beyond its reality so we all hate even if we fail to understand it.

[wabothai]

before I comment I wait for the investigation results. After that I have no problem with some serious basing.

[jackanapes]

how did the police know it was a human trafficking centre if they knew why didn't they do something about it ?

[mango66]

Dare a foreigner enter Thailand without a visa or god forbid his visa is out of order, but still, in this

very borders of this country people are smuggled, detained and traded like livestock and no one

seems to care or know, worst of all, when no one want to buy or there is no use for them any longer,

they're put to death like stray dogs, a blight and a disgrace on our society that such things allowed

to happened in the 21st century....

this is possible in the 21st century as reason of our politicans which

put not a small finger on this nations;

Our politicians only interested on their sellaries, expenses, and how long they are able to ripp off their citicens !

Humanity, traficcing, killing, wars,

everything good for them which brings money !!

[Lupatria]

They must have all been hit by lightning because no Thai (trafficker) could do this...

[realenglish1]

How can this country ever hope of reform when a mass grave pops up and "no one knows what happened"

What a joke

[Fat Haggis]

How unusual it seems to be the kool aid drinkers who are bashing the yanks !!

[Oziex1]

Time Thailand was banished from the UN and the other UN members piled on the sanctions. Time to bring Thailand to book for human rights atrocities .... they did it with Saddam and Iraq why not Thailand?

If we didn't have our hands full, trying to sort out and or manipulate the Middle East to our liking, then maybe we would have some time and resources left to take on injustices elsewhere.

[nputman]

From another article.

Kept in Bamboo cages..........................

Sounds more like a Slave runners camp.

[ggt]

Very disturbing underworld exists in remotes areas of Thailand...I would liken these abused people to how the world views leprosy...no one wants them around...punishes them just for existing...for all the years of so called civilized societies...we are just shy of becoming barbarians again...

[wvavin]

How could this be possible? 200 to 300 humans that could be kept from public eyes. If its not the work of the salaried government employees then who?

[issanaus]

The comments took an interesting turn. Many of us are used to seeing very callous comments about Thai people as well as comments attacking Thai police or government. This is a little different - and good to see - because we here are showing some kindness for the suffering of the smuggled people. I doubt these people meet the definition of trafficked people and are much more likely to have been smuggled. The difference is important because so many activities are thrown under the trafficking umbrella that a whole new sensationalized category of crime is the result. We are in the process of demonizing the word "trafficking" to mean something stronger than it really is just as the word prostitution is mush more volatile than "sex worker" - and that is the point. Demonize something beyond its reality so we all hate even if we fail to understand it.

Point taken but just as describing the people as trafficked describing them as smuggled can be misleading. The background of the people, what lead them to being in Thailand and the experiences of the people vary so much. Even in the experience of any of the individuals many at various times have been refuges fleeing for their lives, marginalised people, smuggled people, trafficked people and all to often then held for ransom. Where the ransoms are not paid then often death of being sold to the worst of the fishing boats is their fate.

Responsible for the death of these people lies in the hands of many - Burmese, Bangladeshi and often Thai and Malay. I hope that at least they find the cause of death and those responsible for creating the situation.

[Usual Suspect]

I for one believe there's other graveyards such as this one out there. None of us can put dates to the start of this trade in innocent humans, and

the fact that so,so many corrupt, greedy, malicious 'officials' will no doubt have been connected to all this for many years should severely tarnish this country's reputation for many years to come...

...but as with every other bad-news story that surfaces here...it'll be hushed, & swept under that sizable carpet..TiT.

[Halion]

This is on Thai soil so all the references to Malaysia are totally irrelevant.

I have little doubt that the police have far more to do with this than will ever be mentioned

[OnTheRun]

Time Thailand was banished from the UN and the other UN members piled on the sanctions. Time to bring Thailand to book for human rights atrocities .... they did it with Saddam and Iraq why not Thailand?

Because Thailand is a long standing partner with US. Sadam was when he was at war with Iran but later fell out of favour. This is in no way a dig at the US, I'm just stating simple facts, it's the way the world runs. Were Thailand to piss off Uncle Sam, say get into bed with N Korea, you'd soon see these things being brought to the fore.

[Emster23]

"Villagers said these migrants died of sickness and some died in fighting after having quarrels among themselves." right. And Jews in Dachau climbed in ovens just to stay warm....

Why would those still alive run away when police show up? One would expect them to run TO them as rescuers..... Perhaps police and armed forces had a hand in this? Also, what became of that defamation suit against journalists who exposed Thai navy's hand in trafficking?

Edited May 1, 2015 by Emster23