| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand accused of brutality towards Rohingya boat people |
| 2009-01-23 |
| Fears are growing over the fate of 126 Rohingya boat people thought to be in Thai military custody after the government said it no longer had any of the migrants from Myanmar within its borders. Amid persistent reports of a shadowy arm of the army towing 992 Rohingya out to sea last month in engine-less boats and leaving them to die, the U.N. refugee agency asked Bangkok on Tuesday to see the 126, most of whom it said were in army custody on an Andaman Sea island. The Foreign Ministry said that was no longer the case, citing the army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which admits to overseeing the arrest and detention of the group of Rohingya, a Muslim minority from northwest Myanmar. "The latest information that we have from ISOC is that there are no longer any Rohingya left in Thailand," deputy ministry spokesman Thani Thongpajkdi said. He refused to answer repeated questions about the current whereabouts of the 126, or say where, when and how they left the country. The ISOC colonel at the heart of the abuse allegations has denied any wrong-doing, but consistent reports from survivors who washed up in India's Andaman Islands and northwest Indonesia suggest as many as 550 of the 992 towed out to sea are dead. Survivors also reported being beaten by Thai security forces, and a Rohingya rights group said four men who refused to board the boats were thrown into the sea with their hands bound. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok said on Friday it was still waiting for a formal response to its request on Tuesday to see the 126. Thani denied Bangkok was stalling and said officials were "trying to arrange a meeting" with the UNHCR. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has repeatedly stated a commitment to human rights and the rule of law, said on Thursday there were "quite a large number" of Rohingya in Thailand but that they were illegal immigrants and had to be "sent back." In a separate statement, Bangkok proposed a meeting of Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia to try to resolve the issue of the Rohingya, who have been persecuted for decades by Myanmar's military rulers. UNHCR says as many as 230,000 Rohingya are now living a perilous, stateless existence just over the border in Bangladesh. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Jakarta believed 193 survivors who washed up near Aceh on Jan 7 were economic migrants, but was having difficulty working out what to do with them. "To return 193 people is a decision that we should think about carefully," he said. "We have sent a person who can talk in their Myanmar language but communication has not gone well." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 Just a slow-motion invasion that Thailand decided wouldn't be allowed. I hope they're not dead, but that's Thailand's business. With all the problems they've had in their southern provinces, I wouldn't want any more muslims of any type in my country, either. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-01-23 13:19 |
| #2 If they're boat people, why don't they 'sail on' instead of getting wiped out slowly by the gov? Don't get it. I'd be putting some miles between me and Thailand. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2009-01-23 10:31 |
| #1 The Rohingya are white construction workers. Please see that they get nothing! |
| Posted by: Robert Reich 2009-01-23 07:31 |