This seems pretty incredible to me, but here is the story. We have written on several recent occasions that Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Bangladesh have been trying to get to Thailand by the hundreds in the last few months. The boat people (really boat “men”) are most often apprehended by the Thai Navy. Now comes news (rumor?) that the Thai Army is taking custody of them and literally disposing of the problem.
BANGKOK, Jan 12 – Thailand’s army is secretly detaining boatpeople on an island in the Andaman Sea, before towing them into international waters and abandoning them with only paddles, sources involved in the process said.
The army officially denies holding any Rohingya – Muslims who come from the border areas of Myanmar and Bangladesh – who sail for Southeast Asia at this time of year by the hundreds.
But Ranong provincial governor Wanchart Wongchaichana said all Rohingya who arrive in the area are turned over to the army.
The army denies the charges:
The sources include officers who were present at Rohingya handovers to the army.
However, Colonel Manat denied having Rohingya in custody. “If I see Rohingya, I will arrest them and hand them to the police. The army does not have Rohingya,” he said, before switching off his mobile phone.
The Rohingya are increasingly on the world’s radar.
The fate of the Rohingya is increasingly being discussed in regional diplomatic circles, amid reports of them also reaching Indonesia, Malaysia, and India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The subject is expected to be raised at next month’s Asean summit in Thailand.
Human rights group are angry, but the Thai government fears the Rohingya will join the Muslim insurgency if steps aren’t taken to protect Thailand from their illegal entry.
Chris Lewa, a Bangkok-based social worker who is seeking better treatment for the Rohingya boatpeople.
She said that brokers in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Malaysia were encouraging desperate Rohingya to make the dangerous boat journey to Thailand despite the possibility that they could be turned back.
Even if the unwelcome migration does present a security threat, as the army claims, the way the Rohingya are treated may contravene international law, Lewa said.
Thai authorities have long been concerned about the arrival of large numbers of Rohingya, fearing some of them may head south to join the long-running Muslim insurgency.
In March last year, then prime minister Samak Sundaravej asked the navy to find a suitable island on which to detain the Rohingya.
But the idea of holding them in such a facility met outcry from human rights advocates and was supposedly shelved.
At the time, military chief Supreme Commander General Boonsrang Niumpradit said of the Rohingya sneaking in to Thailand: “The graph is rising and it is worrying, and we have to try to solve the problem.”
Rohingya usually arrive in Thailand from November to April, while seas are at their calmest.
According to official figures, in 2005-2006, 1,225 arrived in Thailand; in 2006-2007, there were 2,763. In 2007-2008, there were 4,886. From Nov 26 to Dec 25 last year, 659 Rohingya were detained in eight separate incidents.
For more on the Rohingya go to our category “Rohingya Reports” here. Rohingya are being resettled in the west and pressure is building for the US to take them too.