This is an update on the international conflict swirling around the fate of Rohingya Muslim boatmen (no women and children in these boats) arriving by the hundreds on the shores of Thailand and Indonesia.
Burma (Myanmar) says it will take any back who can prove they originated in Burma while still claiming they have no Rohingya Ethnic minority. From the Bangkok Post:
The Burmese government says it is ready to welcome people who can prove they are Bengalis born in Burma, but it does not accept that the Rohingya boat people are a Burmese ethnic minority group, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said on Friday.
Meanwhile, everyone else, including CNN here, say they will be not treated humanely if they go back to Burma (although we don’t know if they even originated in Burma or in Bangladesh where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are thought to live).
Scores of boat people who fled Myanmar and are now in Thailand are to be sent back despite human rights groups’ concerns they could be tortured or killed upon return.
“They will have to be sent back, according to our law,” Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told CNN. “They are entering the country illegally. We do what they would do.”
The 12 boys and 66 men who arrived are among thousands of members of the Rohingya minority who have fled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, because of persecution and in search of a better life.
Of course none of these news sources ever mention the Thai government’s concern that these Rohingya Muslims are arriving to join the jihad in Southern Thailand discussed (here) yesterday at Jihad Watch.
To catch up on this issue, read our Rohingya Reports category. We have written 66 posts on the subject over the last year. Note there is a lobbying campaign underway to resettle Rohingya in the West, some have already arrived in the UK and Canada.