Survivor believes more than 500 killed in camps

[webfact]

SONGKHLA
Survivor believes more than 500 killed in camps
Krissana Thiwatsirikul,
Mary Bradley,
Somjit Rungjamrasrassamee
The Nation



Migrant reveals many who could not afford to pay ransom were shot or clubbed to death; special police team set up

BANGKOK: -- KURAMIA, a migrant, paid out Bt95,000 in ransom to save his nephew Kazim, who was being held at a border camp. But he never saw him alive. His nephew's was among 26 bodies recently exhumed from a mass-grave site in Songkhla's Sadao district.

A migrant who escaped that tragic fate has told police he saw a trafficker named Arnua and his henchmen beat Kazim to death. Speaking via an interpreter on condition of anonymity, this survivor said he had heard that more than 500 victims were killed at various camps holding human-trafficking or kidnap victims along the Thai-Malaysian borders.

"I've also heard that thousands of Rohingya migrants were at those camps waiting for promised jobs or for ransom to arrive," he said.

This survivor said he was lured out of Myanmar's Rakhine state six months ago by an offer to find him a job in Malaysia. He ended up in the same camp as Kazim, where between 700 and 800 migrants were held.

"My mum had to sell our family's land to pay for my ransom. That's why I am still safe," he said.

Kuramia said when Arnua first contacted him, he agreed to pay Bt95,000 ransom in exchange for Kazim's freedom.

"But after I transferred the money, he went quiet. Then about 15 days later, he asked for Bt120,000 more," Kuramia lamented.

He said as he did not have any more money, he decided to lodge a complaint with police in Thailand's Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

Kuramia said he was told later that after he made the complaint, Arnua and his henchmen had bludgeoned Kazim to death.

Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Further investigation into the case led to the campsite in Sadao, and also to the mass gravesite where many corpses were uncovered.

The survivor from the camp said that during his time there, between 17 and 20 people were killed.

"They were either shot or clubbed to death," he said.

He said victims whose relatives could not afford the ransom would be fatally attacked or left to die.

Assistant National Police Commissioner General Jarumporn Suramanee yesterday said most bodies exhumed from the campsite were already skeletons and only six were decaying remains.

"There were no traces of injury. So, we believe many might have died of disease or malnutrition," he said.

He also said it remained unclear at this point whether the bodies were those of Rohingya.

"But judging by what we could see, these bodies should belong to Asians," he said.

Jarumporn said the bodies were now laid with heads to the North in line with religious rituals.

Police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan had made it clear the culprits in this case must be brought to justice.

National Police Commissioner General Somyot Poonpanmoung had already assigned Deputy National Police Commissioner General Jakthip Chaichinda to head a special investigation team.

"This team will go to the South to solve this case," Prawut said.

According to the survivor who was a witness in Kazim's case, a Thai couple known only as Bang Chee and Farida owned the camp in which he and Kazim had been held.

"They came to the camp to check the number of victims and the amount of ransom," the survivor said.

Meanwhile, police in Tak province are trying to locate two Myanmar females reportedly lured to the Thai side and held at a plantation in Ban Huai Nok Lae.

The victims, aged 13 and 25, only contacted their family once since leaving their border village with a man last week. Their family has told authorities that this man was very likely a human trafficker.

Deputy Government Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prime Minister Prayut would order tough punishment for officials involved in the human trafficking of Rohingya. Article 44 of the interim charter might be enforced if the premier deemed it necessary, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Survivor-believes-more-than-500-killed-in-camps-30259271.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-04

[redandyellow]

It's a clear issue of ethnic cleansing by the Burmese Government. Stop the Burmese from pushing the Muslim minority Rohingya into the ocean, and Thailand's problem is solved by default.

It's a bloody mystery how all these people could have been landed and trucked to illegal slavery camps over distances of hundreds of kilometers without being detected by Thai police or the Army. Are you kidding me?

If Thai police and the Army knows about what is going on, they violated their professional oath and proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that they have no moral compass. If they didn't know - it reflects their incompetence. Pick your poison.

Edited May 4, 2015 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[robertthebruce]

Sad and Shocking....

[ExPratt]

I was at a Thai Burmese border a while back and there were hundreds coming in. Think there are quite a few turning a blind eye for compensation

[NongKhaiKid]

Natural first reaction is to ask " how could such a thing go unnoticed ? "

Then stop and think.

[ExPratt]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Natural first reaction is to ask " how could such a thing go unnoticed ? "

Then stop and think.

Exactly , there has been an insurgency going on for years and you would have thought they would go into the Jungle to find camps of insurgents. So it looks like its one of those sitting on your arse Wars

[jamesjohnsonthird]

CNN reporter Dan Rivers ran afoul of Thai authorities when he followed up on the Thai Navy sending hundreds of these impoverished people out to drift on the sea.

[Somtamnication]

This should be in the national and international media. It is on CNN but down the page in a small link!

[simon43]

...were shot or clubbed to death

Killing Fields Thailand?

[rijit]

CNN reporter Dan Rivers ran afoul of Thai authorities when he followed up on the Thai Navy sending hundreds of these impoverished people out to drift on the sea.

'Ran a foul' , how so? And how was it left?

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[simon43]

Stop the Burmese from pushing the Muslim minority Rohingya into the ocean, and Thailand's problem is solved by default.

Easy words to write. The discrimination by Buddhists against Muslims, (all Muslims, moderate and not-so-moderate) in Myanmar, has been ingrained for a generation or more.

I taught in Yangon for 18 months at a private school where most of the kids were Buddhist, coming from middle-class families. 2 of my young students were Muslim. Each morning, the Muslim parents had to give me their lunch-boxes, so that the Buddhist kids could not 'taint' their lunch with pork!

In class time, any mention by me of Islam was greeted with rude and racial comments - so hurtful to the young Muslim kids in the class.

Bear in mind that these were Buddhist kids, only 7 or 8 years old, whose (supposedly intelligent) parents, had taught them from birth to despise ALL Muslims.

How you even begin to solve the problem in Myanmar with an attitude from moderate Buddhists, such as I have experienced?

Edited May 4, 2015 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[NongKhaiKid]

Stop the Burmese from pushing the Muslim minority Rohingya into the ocean, and Thailand's problem is solved by default.

Easy words to write. The discrimination by Buddhists against Muslims, (all Muslims, moderate and not-so-moderate) in Myanmar, has been ingrained for a generation or more.

I taught in Yangon for 18 months at a private school where most of the kids were Buddhist, coming from middle-class families. 2 of my young students were Muslim. Each morning, the Muslim parents had to give me their lunch-boxes, so that the Buddhist kids could not 'taint' their lunch with pork!

In class time, any mention by me of Islam was greeted with rude and racial comments - so hurtful to the young Muslim kids in the class.

Bear in mind that these were Buddhist kids, only 7 or 8 years old, whose (supposedly intelligent) parents, had taught them from birth to despise ALL Muslims.

How you even begin to solve the problem in Myanmar with an attitude from moderate Buddhists, such as I have experienced?

Last year some terrible footage of monks leading attacks and interviews with one young radical wearing robes who justified everything. Unfortunately it just becomes tat for tat with how some Muslim countries regard non-Muslims.

What got me was how the The Lady, a great champion of justice and freedom, refused to condemn the violence saying she didn't know enough about it.

A good politician not taking any chances with her support base.

[trogers]

Stop the Burmese from pushing the Muslim minority Rohingya into the ocean, and Thailand's problem is solved by default.

Easy words to write. The discrimination by Buddhists against Muslims, (all Muslims, moderate and not-so-moderate) in Myanmar, has been ingrained for a generation or more.

I taught in Yangon for 18 months at a private school where most of the kids were Buddhist, coming from middle-class families. 2 of my young students were Muslim. Each morning, the Muslim parents had to give me their lunch-boxes, so that the Buddhist kids could not 'taint' their lunch with pork!

In class time, any mention by me of Islam was greeted with rude and racial comments - so hurtful to the young Muslim kids in the class.

Bear in mind that these were Buddhist kids, only 7 or 8 years old, whose (supposedly intelligent) parents, had taught them from birth to despise ALL Muslims.

How you even begin to solve the problem in Myanmar with an attitude from moderate Buddhists, such as I have experienced?

Same question maybe asked on how those of other religions are treated in Muslim countries?

Religious strife worldwide is alive and kicking.

[fareastguy]

In my experience in Thailand if hard cash can be made by any means then "conscience" goes out of the window !!!!

[Plutojames88]

Land of smiles ?

[Anthony5]

The survivor from the camp said that during his time there, between 17 and 20 people were killed.

"They were either shot or clubbed to death," he said.

He said victims whose relatives could not afford the ransom would be fatally attacked or left to die.

So according to General Jarumporn he must be a liar.

Assistant National Police Commissioner General Jarumporn Suramanee yesterday said most bodies exhumed from the campsite were already skeletons and only six were decaying remains.

"There were no traces of injury. So, we believe many might have died of disease or malnutrition," he said.

He also said it remained unclear at this point whether the bodies were those of Rohingya.

We have lifted the rug already, the special police team will do the sweeping.

[Prbkk]

The PM needs to make this issue his number one priority. Forget the lottery price, tv interviews with old hacks, boxing with shadows....if he doesn't get to the bottom of this, if it's true, Thailand will see an international fury like it has never known

[dcutman]

The PM needs to make this issue his number one priority. Forget the lottery price, tv interviews with old hacks, boxing with shadows....if he doesn't get to the bottom of this, if it's true, Thailand will see an international fury like it has never known

I dont know about that Prbkk, I would have thought the 4000 slaves being discovered in Indonesia would have brought international fury, all has gone quiet. Just like the dozens of other reports over that last few years, back to business as usual after a couple of days.

[dluek]

I was at a Thai Burmese border a while back and there were hundreds coming in. Think there are quite a few turning a blind eye for compensation

I've also seen that, at the Three Pagodas Pass border in Kanchanaburi. It's part of some Burma / Thai border workers agreement that makes it legal for hundreds of workers from Burma to cross the border during daylight hours in order to work at textile factories on the Thai side. They cross back over to Burma every evening. Human trafficking is not so blatant.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

"Jarumporn said the bodies were now laid with heads to the North in line with religious rituals" No respect for life and no respect for religion. Money hungry Buddhist killers. Now convince me the Thai bribe taking authorities weren't aware of this.

[Suffinator]

It's time the UN stepped in and placed serious sanctions on Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Mass murder should not and cannot be tolerated. It is simply impossible to even comprehend how the Thai authorities managed to miss all these people which can only lead to one conclusion ... they are in on it.

Still amazes me how many expats here find this atrocious and yet remain living in a country that allows such to go on and profit from it. Remember your money fuels the system and if the expat community pulled out it would make news and maybe Thailand would begin to realize that this type of profiteering is unacceptable.

How comfortable is your bar stool?

[BestBitterPhuket]

Now the stakes have been upped. The international community now has a legitimate reason to interfere in thai politics. This is beyond shocking. The murderers and kidnappers have to be arrested AND sentenced to death, even if they are friends or family of higher ups. Innocent men, women and children have been kidnapped, abused and murdered in Thailand and some thai officials had to know about it. Thailand should face full sanctions unless they bring ALL culprits to justice, otherwise these scumbags should face justice overseas. These murderous beasts are now walking freely in Thailand. They are the lowest forms of scum on the earth, and Thailand has so far done NOTHING to bring them to justice for their gruesome crimes. What a country!

[gemguy]

This will not stop as there is too much money involved while human trafficking has always been a lucrative and profitable business for some.....all too many actually.

Concerning this particular heinous issue, the Prime Minister should see this as an opportunity to make good and seriously put a stop to this and send in the troops, big time and clean out the low life scum of the earth and put them in prison for a long time to come.

I know, wishful thinking on my part.

It will be international human rights entities that force a change for the better...not the present Thai government...or any Thai government administration in the future....... as expected.

Thailand's image drops another several notches lower while I lose respect for the Thais just a little bit more.

Cheers

[ggt]

More shocking news of man's depravity and inhumane activities...the world appears to be going to hell in a hand-basket...so sad to see so much potential for good be controlled by the dark side of human nature...

[Assurancetourix]

The murderers and kidnappers have to be arrested AND sentenced to death, even if they are friends or family of higher ups.

Not even if because they belong to ...If PM Prayuth wants to really clean Thailand from his deamon he must dismiss all the operetta army generals and nearly all field officers ..

A Herculean task ...

He thinks he is too young to die so he will never did something like that...

a stray bullet so fast arrival ....

Edited May 4, 2015 by Assurancetourix

[SOTIRIOS]

.....human rights....???

...come on world..speak up.....!!!

[Tchooptip]

It's time the UN stepped in and placed serious sanctions on Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Mass murder should not and cannot be tolerated. It is simply impossible to even comprehend how the Thai authorities managed to miss all these people which can only lead to one conclusion ... they are in on it.

Still amazes me how many expats here find this atrocious and yet remain living in a country that allows such to go on and profit from it. Remember your money fuels the system and if the expat community pulled out it would make news and maybe Thailand would begin to realize that this type of profiteering is unacceptable.

How comfortable is your bar stool?

It still amazes me how many members hate this country and yet remain members of THAI VISA

[wabothai]

Shocking news, so shocking that I cannot think straight.

[rondii]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Natural first reaction is to ask " how could such a thing go unnoticed ? "

Then stop and think.

Exactly , there has been an insurgency going on for years and you would have thought they would go into the Jungle to find camps of insurgents. So it looks like its one of those sitting on your arse Wars

Because the insurgents make camps on Malaysian side of the border and Malaysia doesn't want a fight with them and does nothing

[Morakot]

Police find dozens of graves in Thailand jungle camp

BBC News 1 May 2015

Dozens of graves have been found in an abandoned jungle camp in southern Thailand, in an area regularly used by people smugglers.

Thai police said they had also found a sick man and a corpse lying nearby.

A number of bodies have already been exhumed but it is not certain who they are or how they died.

Reports say this remote area on the border with Malaysia is used to smuggle Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32547552