EU to provide 200,000 euro to assist Rohingya refugees in Thailand

June 14, 2013

The Nation

The European Union is committing 200,000 euro to provide humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees being detained in Thailand, the EU Delegation to Thailand announced Friday.

The help will be directed to Rohingya men at detention centres and Rohingya women and children at social welfare facilities.

TheInternational Organization for Migration (IOM) will take charge of the aid, which will provide the Rohingya with basic household items, food and health care.

The project will be monitored by the EU's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), which maintains a regional office in Bangkok.

The funding decision was made after ECHO experts, accompanied by ECHO's Director of Operations, Jean-Louis de Brouwer, paid a visit to one of the detention facilities in May.

Some 2,000 Rohingyas, fleeing communal violence in Myanmar, were intercepted in Thailand in early 2013, while trying to reach Malaysia.

Central government funding to provide food and basic care to the refugees is minimal and donations from local communities have dried up, prompting the Head of the EU Delegation to Thailand, David Lipman, to express the EU's concern about conditions in these facilities.

"We are worried that the unhealthy and overcrowded conditions inside these facilities are detrimental to the health of the refugees" he explained.

"Men and boys are being held in separate facilities from their families and they live in constant fear of being repatriated. We therefore urge the government to work together with international agencies in finding durable solutions for these refugees." 

Following inter-communal violence in Rakhine State in Myanmar, thousands of Rohingyas have been fleeing on boats, hoping to reach Malaysia. 

Since January some 2,000 Rohingya men, women and children have been detained, while trying to cross Thailand into Malaysia. Rohingya families have been split up, with women and children sent to government-run shelters separate from the men, who are placed in immigration detention centres.

The Rohingya have a right to legally belong somewhere

June 8,2013
The Nation

Myanmar, Bangladesh and third-party countries have to start dealing with the problem of stateless refugees as an urgent matter of course

After all the years that Thailand has been involved with sheltering refugees from neighbouring countries, one would think that our authorities' handling of sensitive humanitarian issues would have improved over time. But as a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) suggests, Thai officials have learned little and haven't improved their overall attitude to those in vulnerable situations.

HRW has called on the Thai government to immediately end the detention under inhumane conditions of more than 1,700 ethnic Rohingya, who are being kept in overcrowded cells in immigration detention centres around the country. The statement followed the release of shocking video footage of an immigration facility in Phang Nga province, aired by ITN Channel 4 News on May 31.

"The ITN programme showed 276 Rohingya men living in extremely cramped conditions in two cells resembling large cages, each designed to hold only 15 men," HRW said in a statement. "They barely had enough room to sit. Some suffered from swollen feet and withered leg muscles due to lack of exercise. The men said they have not been let out of the cells in five months."

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra should be reminded that in January she agreed to permit Rohingya arriving by boat from Myanmar to stay temporarily, initially for six months, until they could be safely repatriated to their places of origin or resettled to third countries. She needs to understand that she can't go around making these promises to the international community and then turn a blind eye to the appalling conduct of her officials.

Moreover, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has not been permitted to screen the Rohingya in Phang Nga. The embarrassment that would be caused by revelation of the dreadful holding conditions is likely the same reason why the government is reluctant to permit foreign governments and international organisations like the UN from visiting the violent deep South, where a Malay-Muslim insurgency has raged since 2004. There are just too many things to hide, like the culture of impunity and extrajudicial killings by government and pro-government officials.

Five years ago Thai security officials on the southern coast sent a boatload of Rohingya back out to sea, where many had already died. Shortly after that there was another incident in which video footage showed how Thai officials lined up Rohingya refugees in the open under a blazing sun.

In response to these back-to-back incidents, local media were brought in to report on Thai doctors and aid workers "pampering" the new wave of Rohingya boat people. But more keep coming and the end is nowhere in sight. It's nowhere in sight because no one in the region is willing to take up the issue and discuss the root cause of the migration problem, which is the statelessness of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

The Rohingya are stranded along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Southeast Asia's construct of "nation-states" has passed them by. Post-colonial governments drew up national maps, most of which were in line with boundaries left by the European powers. Neither Myanmar nor Bangladesh wants them, thus making them one of the most pitiable people in the world. And neither country seems willing to do anything about resolving the problem.

While emerging countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh seek to administer the territory within their political boundaries, they don't always want the people that come with it - especially if they are from a different cultural and linguistic stock from the ruling majority.

The stateless hilltribe people along the northern and western Thai border are not much different from the Rohingya. The only difference is that most, if not all, of the northern hilltribes have been documented, even though they might not have been granted citizenship and the privileges that come with it.

But documentation is a start. And perhaps this is where Myanmar should begin. The Rohingya issue should be about legality. It's a humanitarian crisis that stems from an unwillingness to give them legal status anywhere.

Nay Pyi Taw blew a chance to curb its ethnic turmoil

May 5, 2013

The Nation

Official response to riots last year was deeply flawed and probably racist Some people had hoped the government inquiry into violence in Rakhine state would be an opportunity for Myanmar to show the world it has graduated from the rigid mindset imposed on the nation during decades of military dictatorship.

But sadly, the government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has missed a chance to show the world that it has maturity to expose the violence in the western state for what it really is. 

The Thein Sein government recently released a report by a state-appointed panel into the violence in June and October last year. International observers were hoping that this long-delayed report would show that Myanmar is prepared to address the issue of race relations head on. But in the end, the report was little more than a cop-out. 

Besides the fact that it said nothing about sentiment about the Rohingya, there were no suggestion on how the country should address this issue in a meaningful manner. 

The rioting mobs in Rakhine state must be tickled pink to see the Rohingyas referred to throughout the report as "Bengalis", a derogatory term used to challenge the legitimacy of their claim to be an ethnic nationality - one of more than 130 - living within Myanmar's nation-state.

The Rohingyas' problem stems from the fact that Myanmar's 1982 Citizenship Act basically denied them any form of citizenship. The government-appointed, 27-member commission suggested that the government should "examine" the citizenship status of people in Rakhine state. But by the look of it, this is an open-ended suggestion that may never see the light of day.

There was another suggestion which also seemed racist, saying that the Rohingyas be given "family-planning education" because they "breed too much". 

Just as worrying was the recommendation that the government should continue to keep Rohingya Muslims separate from Sittwe and other major Rakhine-majority towns. Safety was cited as the explanation but according to international observers who visited these areas, "the idea is to deny the Muslims the property on which they lived."

What about reintegrating communities affected by the riots? Dream on, the observers said, pointing to the fact that the government already has less desirable plots of land for the Muslims. So their move to temporary shelters now looks like becoming permanent segregation. 

If the government can't even acknowledge the root cause of the problem, while at the same time ignores the issue of discrimination and accountability, what hope does Myanmar has in becoming a responsible player in the regional and international community?

There was other criticism aside from the fact the government took so long to reach a conclusion, and coming up with recommendations that are off-base or counter-productive. John Sifton of Human Rights Watch said: "The recommendation to double the local security force size in [Rakhine state], for instance, completely overlooks the fact that these forces were complicit in the violence that led to the commission being appointed in the first place. That raises strong questions about the objectivity and intentions of the report authors.

"There is simply no doubt that local security forces were complicit in the violence, in some cases taking part in the violence directly or else standing by as Buddhist mobs attacked Rohingya people. If you don't offer any criticism of the fact that no one has been arrested or held accountable for this violence, there is clearly something wrong with your report," he said.

HRW said the ethnic violence, which saw hundreds killed and more than 120,000 people forced to flee their homes, was a crime against humanity. 

According to Myanmar government figures, more than 8,600 homes were also destroyed. Most troubling is the fact that the more than 100,000 people displaced were Rohingyas and other Muslims. They deserve better than this from a country that aspires to be the regional head of Asean next year.

Myanmar govt participating in violence against Rohingya

April 27, 2013

The Nation

This week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report that highlights gross rights abuses and possible ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people in western Myanmar.

Partners Relief & Development (PRAD) confirms that HRW's claims are in line with what its staff has seen and heard in Arakan State. More than 120,000 people are still in desperate need of emergency relief. The humanitarian situation is close to a catastrophe. People lack everything from food and medicine to tarps and blankets.

I have interviewed more than 30 people who in some way have been victims of violence in Arakan over the last year. They testify to horrific acts of violence where not even children were spared. They confirm that both police and army officials participated in the violence. They speak of unlawful arrests, torture and rape. These are people who are living in hopeless despair.

One woman I talked to cried uncontrollably as she told us of the massacre of her 29 relatives, among them her seven children and 18 grandchildren.

PRAD wants to support HRW in demanding an immediate change in Arakan. The Myanmar government must immediately investigate the acts of violence, and the offenders must be brought to justice. The Rohingya people must be given back the citizenship they lost in 1982. Humanitarian-aid organisations must get free access to the areas in greatest need.

PRAD also wants to encourage the international community to take this situation seriously and reconsider if financial investment in the Myanmar is justifiable as long as the government is not able to put and end to the serious rights abuses against the Rohingya people.

Oddny Gumaer

PRAD advocacy officer

Rohingya found adrift off Phuket

March 24, 2013

The Nation

Residents of Phuket's Muang district and Marine Police officers yesterday morning rescued 106 Rohingya people whose boat experienced an engine malfunction and began drifting towards Koh Lhoan while they were heading to Malaysia.
The Rohingya, apparently exhausted and starving, were provided with drinking water and food.

One of the Rohingya, identified only as 35-year-old Hulabin, said the Rohingya left Myanmar's Rakhine state on January 22 but later found themselves lost in Indian territorial waters, eventually being apprehended off the Nicobar Islands, before being pushed out to sea on March 19. Heading for Malaysia, the boat got as far as Thai waters when it experienced engine problems.

So far this year there have been four incidents in which Rohingya boats have drifted into Thai waters off Phuket. The three previous cases were on January 1, when 73 Rohingya were arrested for illegal entry; January 29, when 205 Rohingya were apprehended but shortly afterward sent back out to sea; and February 22, when eight Rohingya were spotted wandering in Kamala village and arrested for illegal entry.

Source:Here 

Press Myanmar's president on rights reforms EU

 
March 5, 2013
The Nation

Brussels - European Union leaders should press Burmese President Thein Sein on adopting key rights reforms during his visit this week to Brussels, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

Thein Sein is set to meet a top-tier roster of leaders on March 5, including Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament; José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission; Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council; Catherine Ashton, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy; and others.

HRW's press release issued Tuesday said Myanmar's president should be urged to honor his pledges to permit an office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with a full rights protection, promotion, and technical assistance mandate and allow full and unimpeded access of humanitarian organizations to areas where civilians are in need.

Lotte Leicht, EU director at Human Rights Watch, said "EU leaders should treat the reform efforts to date in Myanmar as just the start of a process, not the end. "They should of course encourage President Thein Sein's reforms but also press him to address the hard reality of serious ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar."

HRW added that EU leaders should recognize that recent positive changes in Myanmar are due in large measure to international pressure and the Burmese leadership's desire to escape economic and political isolation. Thus it is critical that the EU not ignore ongoing abuses by the Burmese security forces, including attacks on civilians in ethnic conflict areas and crackdowns on peaceful protesters in Rangoon and elsewhere.

Since the resumption of the armed conflict with the Kachin Independence Army in Kachin State in 2011, the Burmese military has been responsible for numerous violations of the laws of war, including shelling of civilians, summary executions, rape, the use of child soldiers, unlawful forced labor, and looting. Tens of thousands of displaced Kachin civilians have been unable to gain access to humanitarian assistance.

The government has also failed to address deadly sectarian violence against ethnic Rohingya Muslims and others last year in Arakan State, Human Rights Watch said. The government-formed inquiry on the violence again postponed the publication of its findings, until late March. Thein Sein has already indicated on his European trip that his government does not intend to revise the 1982 Citizenship Law, whose discriminatory provisions are used to deny citizenship to most Rohingya.

EU leaders should urge Thein Sein to allow unimpeded humanitarian assistance to Kachin and Arakan States and other areas where the population is at risk, Human Rights Watch said. EU member states and the EU Commission have increased humanitarian assistance to Myanmar although there have been ongoing government obstacles. Despite specific promises by Thein Sein to permit greater assistance, security forces have blocked, harassed or failed to protect aid convoys to beleaguered populations such as Kachin outside of government controlled areas and to camps of displaced Rohingya Muslims.


Thein Sein should permit the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to establish a regular presence in the country as he pledged to US President Barack Obama in November, Human Rights Watch said. While the government did allow three OHCHR staff to monitor developments in Arakan State, such monitoring is urgently needed elsewhere in Myanmar. The OHCHR presence should have a full mandate for rights protection, promotion, and technical assistance. Doing so would be in keeping with a recent European Parliament resolution urging the government "to accelerate the implementation of its commitment to establishing an OHCHR Country Office" in the country.

Human Rights Watch urged EU leaders to make clear that without an agreement on an OHCHR office with a full mandate to monitor and report on rights developments, the EU will sponsor a Myanmar resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for such an office and extending the existing mandate of the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar.

"Thein Sein no doubt has his talking points polished and is primed to be applauded for his reforms. But any realistic analysis of the current situation on the ground in Myanmar would conclude much more needs to be done to entrench reforms," Leicht said.

"The EU is not genuinely assisting Myanmar's transition - and, more importantly, its people - if it settles for feel-good platitudes. Only constructive and firm pressure will ensure durable protections for civilians, and basic human rights for all. "

Source:Here

Myanmar elite must alter their thinking on the Rohingya

 

February 27, 2013

The Nation
Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The issue of the Rohingya and violence in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine will never be resolved unless the elite in the country adjust their attitude towards this ethnic minority and include them in the notion of a state.

Strong reaction from lawmakers, legal experts and citizens of Myanmar against a call for a citizenship law amendment made by Thomas Quintana, the UN’s Human Rights Envoy to Myanmar a week ago, shows the complexity and sensitivity of the issue in the country.

Quintana recommended Myanmar amend the 1982 citizenship law to end discrimination against many ethnic groups, notably the Muslim Rohingya who are in conflict with the Buddhist Rakhine and authorities.

The UN official, indeed, is not the first person to address this issue of improving the human rights record in Myanmar. Many progressive figures, rights groups and non-government organisations, have consistently urged authorities to adjust the law to fit to new circumstances in a modern world.

To their concern, the law narrowly defines only some, not all, ethnic people as citizens of Myanmar.

Article 3 of Chapter II of the law says "nationals such as the Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, Burman, Mon, Rakhine or Shan and ethnic groups as have settled in any of the territories included within the State as their permanent home from a period anterior to 1185 BE, 1823 AD are Burma citizens."

The law defines Burmese as Burman and uses the term 'Burma citizen' as it was written before the name of the country was changed to Myanmar.

Myanmar registered 135 ethnic groups as its citizens, but Rohingya, whom the authorities call Bengali, were not included as an ethnic grouping in the country under the 1982 law.

The Deputy Minister for Immigration and Population Kyaw Kyaw Tun, replied to a question by Khin Saw Wai, an MP representing Rakhine State, during a parliamentary session of the Lower House last week, that there were no Rohingya in Myanmar.

"There has never been a Rohingya race in Rakhine State. According to the censuses conducted in 1973 and in 1983, the country’s ethnic groups include no Rohingya. That term was not mentioned either in the British gazettes," Kyaw Kyaw Tun said.

According to the census, non-ethnic citizens in Myanmar included Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Bengali and Nepalese, he said.

Bengali, the term used by Myanmar authorities and the elite in the country, were migrants taken by the British Empire into Myanmar before it regained independence in 1948. They were made to engage in farm work.

Myanmar did not accept other historical arguments that the Muslim Rohingya had their own kingdoms before an expansion of Buddhists from the Irrawaddy valley in the 17th-18th centuries.

However, whatever they are called, Myanmar law recognises only the third generation of Bengali born to their parents who came to live in Myanmar before 1948. The rest, or those who failed to prove the connection with that generation, are regarded as illegal migrants.

Myanmar's concern for the migrant issue is based on security. Many lawmakers oppose the idea to amend the citizenship law as they fear a loose law might allow 'non-citizens' to enter the country easily. Some lawmakers even called on the legislative body to amend citizenship laws to provide for tougher punishment for illegal migrants.

Next month, President Thein Sein will receive a report from an investigation commission set up to probe violence in the Rakhine state.

The final report, which claims to be a comprehensive one to address the causes and reasons for the conflict, would be meaningless unless it mentions the real and deep roots that have been implanted in the mindset of the upper hierarchy of the country.

Officials urge talks with Myanmar, UN on Rohingya

February 6, 2013

THE NATION

House Standing Committee on State Security chairman Weng Tojirakan Wednesday discussed the Rohingya migrant issue and recommended talks with Myanmar to repatriate them or contact the United Nations to find a third country to take them in.


National Human Rights Commission's head of violation inspection division, Kesarin Tiangsakul, said it found many women and children among the Rohingya migrants who aimed to work in Malaysia and Indonesia, using Thailand as a transit point.

After they were arrested - and Thai law could detain them for six months - the government had to find a solution to the problem because these people couldn't be repatriated elsewhere. It also had to provide them with care on a humanitarian basis, Kesarin said.

The Nation

Asean must address Rohingya issue on humanitarian grounds, Surin insists

The Nation
February 4, 2013 1:00 am

The Rohingya immigrant issue is an internal affair of Myanmar, which Asean members should address on humanitarian grounds, former Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday.

At the root of the problem is the fact that Myanmar's constitution and internal laws do not recognise the Rohingya as citizens, he said. Other groups in Myanmar don't accept the Rohingya, who are based mainly in Rakhine and number about 800,000 in all, he said, adding: "This has to be dealt with gradually, as Myanmar authorities are worried about intervention from the outside world."

"The United Nations has been working on the Rohingya issue, but has to be careful in dealing with it, and Asean needs to address it, especially on humanitarian grounds," he said.

Surin was speaking at a school in Nakhon Si Thammarat run and sponsored by the Pitsuwan family. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn made a private visit to the Ban Tal pondok school. Surin said the princess had sponsored 14 such schools in the South, including those located in the upper part of the region, where subjects were taught in Thai.

Meanwhile, another 145 Rohingya aboard a Malaysia-bound boat entered Thai waters off the Trang coast yesterday, before they were provided with fresh water and supplies and had their vessel towed out of Thai waters. Two of them are women and there were two children on board.

Marine Police said no arrests were made, because of insufficient shelter that would be needed to house them afterwards. The food supplies provided by the Red Cross included canned fish, omelettes and medical assistance were not provided despite many of them being exhausted and starving, after their fresh water and supplies run out two days ago.

Reporters complained about not being allowed to follow a police boat to cover the provision of supplies. Marine Police claimed that their presence would cause panic among the Rohingya.

UN urges aid for Rohingya; group sighted in forest

February 2, 2013
The Nation
By Somjit Rungjamrasrassamee

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday urged all involved countries to provide assistance to Rohingya people leaving Myanmar.

The UNHCR's senior regional public information officer, Vivian Tan, said the Rohingya people's journey out of their homeland was often full of risk, and hundreds had died along the way.

"Many use small boats to travel over the sea for well over 10 days," she said.

She was speaking as she visited UNHCR officials along the Thai-Myanmar border.

The Rohingya are the Muslim minority in Myanmar, where many have reported being subjected to severe discrimination and brutality.

Last month, Thailand found an increasing number of Rohingya people illegally entering its territory.

Locals in Ban Chalung, Hat Yai district, Songkhla, yesterday reported spotting Rohingya people hiding in the forest. The local people were helping in the authorities' search for the migrants.

A number of Rohingya have reportedly hidden themselves at various camps in Thailand's forest lands waiting for illegal agents to send them to employers in Malaysia. After officials raided several camps, the agents left the Rohingya camps and many Rohingya found it hard to find food to survive.

At least 26 have already come forward to ask for help. However, many more are still in hiding.

"The Rohingya have told us their friends have not yet come forward," Hat Yai district chief Seree Panichkul said yesterday.

Call to help Rohingya as more arrive in Thailand

February 1, 2013

The Nation 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Friday urged all involved countries to provide assistance to Rohingya refugees leaving Myanmar.

UNHCR's senior regional public information officer, Vivian Tan, said the Rohingya people's journey out of their homeland was often full of risk and hundreds had died along the way.

"Many use small boats to travel over the sea for well over 10 days," she said.

She was speaking as she visited UNHCR officials along the Thai - Myanmar border.

The Rohingya are the Muslim minority in Myanmar, where many have reported being subjected to severe discrimination and brutality.

Last month, Thailand found an increasing number of Rohingya people illegally entering its territory.

Locals in Ban Chalung, Hat Yai district, Songkhla, Friday reported spotting Rohingya people hiding in the forest. The local people were helping in the authorities' search for the refugees.

A number of Rohingya have reportedly hidden themselves at various camps in Thailand's forest lands waiting for illegal agents to send them to their employers in Malaysia. After officials raided several camps, the agents left the Rohingya camps and many found it hard to find food to survive.

At least 26 have already come forward to ask for help. However, many more are still in hiding.

"The Rohingyas have told us their friends have not yet come forward," Hat Yai district chief Seree Panichkul said Friday.

Raid finds empty Rohingya camp

February 1, 2013  

THE NATION
By SANTIPARP RAMASUTRA,
PIMNARA PRADUBWIT


Sleeping mats and abandoned belongings were all Hat Yai police found when they raided a camp yesterday that was suspected of illegally harbouring 200 Rohingya migrants.

Nearby residents later found 29 Rohingya wandering lost in the woods and alerted the authorities. Police believe they were among the 200 migrants from the empty camp and had escaped from their middlemen handlers during the camp's hurried evacuation. The Rohingya told rescuers about 100 other Rohingya had escaped.

It was the fourth Rohingya camp raid this month in Songkhla. The migrants had reportedly been staying at the camp in Tambon Chalung for almost a month awaiting departure to Malaysia.

Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul yesterday led envoys from 17 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries to visit 105 Rohingya women and children at a shelter in Songkhla's Muang district. He said the diplomats were satisfied with Thailand's handling of the Rohingya and some envoys promised to give their cooperation.

Songkhla Governor Kritsada Boonrach told the envoys that the Rohingya people's health had improved thanks to care from related agencies. The envoys said they would determine whether the migrants should be sent back to their country of origin or onward to a third country. The envoys also visited a Rohingya shelter in Pattani.

National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Lt-General Paradorn Pattanathabutr yesterday insisted that Thailand would not set up a refugee camp for the Rohingyas, who are fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Around 1,400 Rohingyas are being detained in various locations around the South for illegally entering Thailand.

According to Thai immigration rules, the illegal migrants can't be detained for longer than six months. They will be assisted in humanitarian terms and allowed to remain temporarily, Paradorn said.

"We will neither upgrade the problem to the international level nor open refugee camps to accommodate them," Paradorn said. "As for the Rohingyas found aboard boats in the sea, we will provide them with water and food but we will not allow them to enter Thai territory. The Thai authorities have already talked to and asked for cooperation from Malaysia. We would like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to help us talk to Malaysia."

Thailand will not set up refugee camp for Rohingyas: NSC

January 31, 2013 

THE NATION

The National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday insisted that Thailand would not set up a refugee camp for Rohingyas who had fled violence in Myanmar and arrived in Thailand's southern provinces.

NSC secretary general Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanathabutr said that 1,400 Rohingyas are currently detained in various southern provinces after illegally entering the country.

According to the Thai immigration laws, the country would detain them for no longer than six months, he said. The country would assist them in humanitarian terms and would allow them to stay here on a temporary basis.

"We will neither upgrade the problem to international level nor open refugee camps to accommodate them," he said.

"We have a clear position to help them on a humanitarian basis. As for the Rohingyas found on board boats in the sea, we will provide them with water and food but we will not allow them to enter Thai territory," he said.

Paradon said Thailand is not a target of Rohingyas, adding that their destination is Malaysia. "The Thai authorities have already talked and asked cooperation from Malaysia. We would like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to help us talk to Malaysia," he said.

The Rohingyas are fleeing sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Narathiwat governor orders trafficking probe

January 25, 2013
The Nation
Supitcha Rattana and Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai


Seeks to 'clear air' over reports hundreds smuggled into province for work


Narathitwat Governor Apinan Seutananuwong has ordered a probe into reports that more than 700 Rohingya have been smuggled into the southern province after crossing the border from Myanmar.

"I don't know how the reports have come out. But to clear the air, I have told relevant officials to investigate," he said yesterday.

Apinan said he had not heard that hundreds of illegal Rohingya migrants were in his province until media featured the reports.

"We will probe deeply into the matter," he said.

If the reports are confirmed, the number of Rohingya found illegally entering Thailand this month could soar past 2,000.

As of Wednesday, official statistics showed at least 1,381 Rohingya were being detained in various spots by officials for illegal entry. All of them were believed to have just arrived in Thailand.

Described by the UN as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Muslim Rohingya have been denied citizenship and face ongoing persecution in their native Myanmar. Several of the latest arrivals to Thailand have reported suffering severe discrimination and brutality in their homeland.

The Fourth Army Area has launched a probe into an allegation that the Rohingya are being trafficked into Thailand with the help of Thai soldiers.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) had so far found no evidence of trafficking, DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said yesterday.

"At this point, we can't conclude that these cases are about human trafficking," Tarit said.

He said available information to date had shown that the Rohingya had illegally entered Thailand in search of work.

"There's no sign they were duped or physically mistreated," he said.

Tarit said the DSI would take over cases related to the Rohingya if further evidence suggested that they were victims of human trafficking.

He assigned DSI deputy chief Yanaphon Youngyuen to attend a meeting with the Foreign Affairs Ministry about the Rohingya today.

In a related development, a Songkhla man surrendered himself to police yesterday to face charges of sheltering and detaining illegal migrants. Saroj Kaewmaneechote had been sought by police after they found a group of Rohingya at his home in Songkhla's border district of Sadao earlier this month.

Montae sae Lor, a 58-year-old Thai, and Dorlohmae, a 55-year-old Myanmarese, were arrested and charged with supervising the Rohingya for Saroj.

"We have found that agents for illegal migrant workers have had Malaysian accomplices too," said Songkhla's deputy police chief Colonel Krissakorn Pleethanyawong.

Also yesterday, officials from organisations including the Sheikhul Islam Office, the Songkhla Islamic Committee and the International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday met and agreed to set up a co-ordination committee to facilitate the flow of assistance to the Rohingya in Thailand.

3 Army officers face Rohingya trafficking probe

January 23, 2013
The Nation

Accused Isoc officers based at Chumphon; Sukampol 'angry' over allegations against lieutenant, major, colonel

The Army is investigating at least three military officers accused of trafficking Rohingya refugees into the Kingdom.

The news came as a fresh group of 179 boat people landed in southern Phang Nga province yesterday, with more boats headed this way.

The three military officers were assigned to work for the Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) Ranong Attachment, according to Fourth Army Area chief Lt-General Udomchai Thammasarorach. They have been stationed in Chumphon province.

"Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat has instructed me to order the investigation and we have already set up a committee to look into the case," Udomchai told The Nation yesterday.

Udomchai had a closed-door meeting to discuss the matter with Sukampol, who was in Pattani on an inspection of the far South.

The minister appeared angry to learn about the alleged involvement of military officers in the trafficking of Rohingya, a source close to the meeting said.

The accused officers hold the rank of major, colonel and lieutenant, the source said, noting that their commander - a colonel who heads their unit in Chumphon - is also being investigated.

"The military officers in question have said that they used military vehicles to transport the Rohingya for humanitarian assistance, not because they were involved in human trafficking," Udomchai said.

The allegation against the Army officers arose after more than 850 Rohingya were found in the far South earlier this month. Many of them complained of inhumane treatment in their homeland, Myanmar, because the government does not accept them as citizens.

Meanwhile, the latest group of 179 Rohingya refugees arrived in Phang Nga province after maritime police found them floating in a vessel offshore, according to Kura Buri deputy district police chief Laksanawong Rampansuwan.

People on the boat said it took them 16 days to journey from Rakhine state to Thai waters, he said, adding that more Rohingya were on the way and expected to land soon.

On Monday, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said any soldiers found to be involved in human trafficking would be expelled and prosecuted.

An investigation by the BBC, revealed on their website, alleges Thai officials have been selling boat people from Myanmar to human traffickers.

BBC news reports allege Thai Navy personnel are also part of the trafficking ring. A source close to Rohingya residing in Thailand said they learnt of Navy officers benefiting from the scam, through cooperation with Myanmar nationals and Rohingya agents.

The Phuketwan website, which won awards for helping to reveal the "pushback" of Rohingya boats four years ago, has similar claims.

Yesterday, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials visited ethnic Rohingya detained in Thailand to determine their need to move to a third country. At the time of their arrest, many Rohingya said they wanted a new, safe place to live.

Manasvi Srisodapol, who heads Thailand's Department of Information, said help would be needed from the international community, and third countries, to solve the problems of the Rohingya in the short and long term.

"We have already talked to the Myanmar authorities and the UNHCR about assistance," he said.

Security agencies in Thailand are concerned about the growing number of Rohingya arriving by boat on the Andaman coast other illegal migrants in Thailand.

"We are not ready to host more shelters for the Rohingya here in Ranong," Colonel Narin Phannarai said. He is a deputy chief of a unit overseeing internal security there.

Officials say national security will be jeopardised if the number of illegal aliens grows too big.

In a related development, Thais have donated food and clothing to the Rohingya now detained in Thailand. Songkhla Provincial Islamic Committee has opened a bank account (Islamic Bank of Thailand No. 934 1 48557 6,) to accept donations for the Rohingya. Bt2 million has already been donated.

Despite Thai authorities' pledge to treat the Rohingya well on humanitarian grounds, Ranong residents showed dismay over the influx of immigrants and vowed to oppose the setting up of a refugee camp in the southern coastal province, their leader said last Sunday.

Sucheep Patthong said his group would launch protests if there were reports indicating the government intended to open a Rohingya refugee camp in Ranong. Sucheep said he had sympathy for the Rohingya people but if they were allowed to live in a refugee camp in Ranong, it would have a negative impact on the local people.

"Ranong is already suffering enough from some 100,000 immigrant workers living in the province. This has led to social, security and public health problems," Sucheep added.

Call for regional help to deal with Rohingya

January 21, 2013
The Nation

Flood of refugees should be discussed by Asean, NHRC says.

Ethnic Rohingya fleeing from Myanmar deserve the attention of Asean as their problems are huge, a panel of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says.

Panel chairwoman Angkhana Neelapaijit spoke yesterday after visiting some Rohingya people in Narathiwat.

More than 800 Rohingya were found to have illegally entered southern Thailand earlier this month to escape alleged violence in Myanmar. The news put the media spotlight and public attention squarely on them.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority community from Rakhine state in western Myanmar.

"This issue is big. It should be addressed at the Asean level. Myanmar is also a member of the regional grouping," Angkhana said.

NHRC chairwoman Amara Pongsapich visited the Rohingya people with Angkhana.

At the same time, Senator Jate Sirataranont urged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to raise the issue of the Rohingya with Nay Pyi Taw, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

"We need to find a balance between humanitarian issues and security concerns," he said.

Angkhana said the Thai government must also discuss the Rohingya with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration, the Red Cross and Unicef.

Jate argued that Thai authorities must send the Rohingya refugees to a third, Muslim country as fast as possible. However, as the process may take time, he believed the government should set up more temporary shelters for them.

Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, however, expressed concern about creating more shelters for the Rohingya. "We can't take in too many people otherwise problems will arise in the long run. We have to take care of our national security," he said.

It has been claimed there are more than 130,000 Rohingya in Thailand - although rights activists have suggested the figure is a fraction of that. But no third country has expressed an interest in taking them so far.

Prayuth said Thai authorities should only provide humanitarian aid pending deportation of the Rohingya back to their homeland, or their move to a third country.

"We won't ignore the humanitarian principles but we also must pay attention to our national interests," he said.

He threatened action against any soldier involved in smuggling the Rohingya, given more claims of officers demanding money to escort refugees or economic migrants who want help to enter Malaysia.

Ranong Tourism Association adviser Nit Ouitekkeng said the number of illegal migrants in the province was growing fast and it had caused social, public-health, environmental and security problems.

"This means our province's tourism potential is hurt. We are worried about safety problems," she said, pointing out that thefts - sometimes blamed on the refugees - had taken place.

'Rohingya are illegals, but will be treated humanely'

File photo of Rohingya migrants sitting outside a police station
 in southern Thailand, on January 31, 2009 (AFP/File, Tuwaedaniya Meringing)

Sunday January 20, 2013
The Nation

The Rohingya who recently arrived from Myanmar were smuggled into the country, so they must be prosecuted under Thai law for illegal entry, Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said yesterday. He added, however, that legal procedures could be flexibly applied, especially in regard to women and children.

Speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on her weekly TV show yesterday, Surapong, who is foreign minister, said the detention of Rohingya in Songkhla last week was a matter for the National Security Council (NSC). The migrants had entered Thailand illegally and would be dealt with according to Thai law.

As a short-term solution, agencies had provided temporary shelter and care for the Rohingya. In the long term, Thailand would consult with international organisations including the International Organisation for Migration, the International Com-mittee of the Red Cross, the UNHCR and Unicef on what could be done. He said Yingluck had urged officials to take care of the Rohingya according to humanitarian principles as they had suffered a great deal, hence there would be no immediate repatriation.

Surapong said the permanent secretary for foreign affairs and the NSC chief would discuss ways of working with international agencies on providing shelter for the Rohingya, while Thailand would monitor and seek to eradicate human-trafficking crimes involving the group. Surapong also thanked the Muslim community in Songkhla, where over 800 Rohingya were detained last week, for their donations and other offers of assistance.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalya-sut urged the government to talk to Myanmar and Bangladesh and encourage them to accept the Rohingya in their countries as citizens. Among the Rohingya who had been detained for illegal entry, those looking for work in Thailand as unskilled labourers should be separated out and held in a designated zone, while officials intensified efforts to prevent the Rohingya from enter the Kingdom illegally, the spokesman said. Lastly, the government should contact international agencies to find a third country to take the Rohingya, he said, warning that Thailand should proceed speedily but carefully, otherwise many more Rohingya will try to come before third countries can be found to take them.

In Hat Yai, officials and volunteers searched for at least eight Rohingya thought to be in the Kaew Mountain Range, after authorities urged locals not to harm them following reports a Rohingya man was shot dead last month after being mistaken for a thief.

Ranong Islamic Committee president Surachet Prasongpol yesterday gave food and donated items to 22 Rohingya men who were detained along with 64 others on January 17 off Phang Nga's Takua Pa and have since been moved to an immigration centre in Ranong. Members of the Ranong fishing community, however, voiced fear desperate Rohingya would attack locals to obtain food and supplies, and had set up volunteer security teams to patrol on land and at sea.

Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 officer Maj-General Manas Khongpaen said 2,817 Rohingya migrants were detained for illegal entry from October to December last year and warned that more would come this year, as violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state continued. He said Thailand would stop Rohingya from entering Thailand illegally using Standard Operating Procedures and according to humanitarian principles.

NSC secretary-general Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanathabutr said the government affirmed a status of the Rohingya captured in Songkhla as illegal entries, not refugees, hence the Kingdom could not set up a camp for them.

"Even if the country of origin had fighting or human rights violation, the Rohingyas' home province doesn't border with Thailand so support for the Rohingya here doesn't mean war refugee status."

He also commented that a gang's detention of the Rohingya pending transport to Malaysia may not be human trafficking, but illegal detention and harboring of aliens.

He said the Rohingya were economic workers kept in Thailand pending transport to the destination country.

"We've to be careful about this issue because giving too much aid might be a signal for the remaining Rohingya to travel to Thailand, leading to endless problems," he said.

More vessels on the way, Rohingya tell Thai officials

Royal Thai Armed Forces Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn yesterday voiced his concern over the impact the growing number of Rohingya refugees are having on Thailand's capacity to deal with them. Photo: The Nation

Sunday January 20, 2013
The Nation
Jim Pollard

Thai officials will go to an island off Phang Nga today after another boatload of Rohingya refugees - thought to be the fourth over the past week or so - was found there late yesterday. Officials said the refugees were hiding in jungle on the unnamed island and it was too dark to try to round them up last night.

The arrival of two more vessels - one on the island, and another towed ashore near Khura Buri on Friday means about 1,000 Rohingya have landed on Thailand's Andaman coast or been captured in Sadao, further south, this month.

Meanwhile, five more vessels are allegedly at sea and heading this way, according to refugees on the "third" vessel, who came ashore on Friday.

Some 114 people were on "third" boat that arrived in Phang Nga province on Friday, about 100km south of Ranong. These refugees, aged from 60 to a one-year-old baby, were said to be in a very weak condition as they had run out of food and water, despite having stopped and collected water on an island on their 13-day journey south.

A translator working for Al Jazeera said the Rohingya on the "third" boat told provincial officials they were on one of eight boats that left Sittwe together. Only three of these had arrived in Thailand to date. The eight boats drifted apart over the past two weeks and the location of the other five is unknown.

Sittwe is a port in Arakan State (also known as Rakhine State) in western Myanmar close to sites where ethnic violence caused more than 100 deaths and forced tens of thousands of people - mostly Muslims - to flee their homes in June and then again just a few months ago.

District officials were overseeing aid for the "third" boatload at the district hall in Khura Buri yesterday. Medics and local Muslims were helping to give out medicine, food and blankets. Many people on this boat were sick, none were said to have died during the trip.

Four teenage boys who had been on the "third" vessel but hid from Thai authorities on an island off the coast before it was towed to the mainland, wandered into the camp yesterday to join their friends after getting a lift to the mainland on another boat.

All up some 114 on the "third" vessel had been charged by police for illegal entry into Thailand.

Meanwhile, about 550 were found in raids in Sadao, further south, and 135 arrived on two vessels that arrived last week.

Officials in Khura Buri said they were waiting to hear from top authorities in Bangkok on what to do with the latest arrivals.

Many of the Rohingya survivors have been stuck in refugee camps not far from Sittwe living in bleak conditions and facing an uncertain future, given that Nay Pyi Taw has refused to recognise them as citizens, and asked United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres in June to resettle them.

The Myanmar government calls the Rohingya "Bengalis" and insists they arrived in their country in recent times, despite evidence by academics that this ethnic group has lived in the Rakhine area for several centuries.

ICRC visits Songkhla group of Rohingya

January 18, 2013
The Nation

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday visited the ethnic Rohingyas who are taking shelter at a police station in Songkhla province.

Bjorn Rahm, an ICRC detention delegate met a group of 20 Rohingyas at Hat Yai police station where they are being detained.

Members of the group have been rounded up in the province since January 13.

A source said that ICRC staff met the group in the detention room and asked about their lives in Myanmar before fleeing to Thailand as well as their current living conditions.

The ICRC seemed happy with the Thai authority's care of the Rohingyas including the clean rooms. Basic necessities would be provided to the group by the ICRC pending legal procedures.

According to reports on Thursday, a total of 897 Rohinyas have now emerged and asked for help from the authorities in the southern provinces of Songkhla, Narathiwat, Trang, Pattani and Pangna.

Many more are believed to be hiding in the mountains between Songkhla and Satun.

The Thai government earlier agreed to let the UN High Commissioner for Refugees have access to Rohingya refugees and approved temporary assistance for a group discovered hiding in Songkhla until their status is determined.

The Rohingya from the Rakhine State in western Myanmar lost their rights to citizenship and property in 1982 by legislation that did not include them in that country’s recognised ethnic minority groups.

Last year, the Rohingya were the target of ethnic clashes in Rakhine that left more than 100 dead and 115,000 displaced.

Thailand is 'shouldering refugee burden alone'

Foreign organisations have always been quick with promises to help  Thailand care for refugees fleeing violence, but rarely deliver, leaving the Kingdom to shoulder the burden alone, Armed Forces Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn said yesterday.

January 19, 2013
The Nation

He said that standard procedures in dealing with illegal immigrants, which stipulate that they be repatriated, should be maintained, or else the illegal entry of Rohingya into Thailand would continue. In the meantime, "Thailand is following a principle of feeding them and taking care of them, on humanitarian grounds," he added.

"[Foreign agencies] always say that they want to help, but hardly ever do, so the burden falls on Thailand." the general said.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said later that setting up camps to accommodate Rohingya "did not address the ongoing problem", while coordination between Thai authorities and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and foreign relief agencies was underway.

Asked about the possibility of repatriating the Rohingya to Myanmar, where they are considered by many to be an oppressed group who would face further persecution upon return, Yingluck said: "Don't put it that way. We are considering what safer places they should be placed in, at a later stage."

In earlier comments, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung had not ruled out the possibility of setting up a camp to accommodate several hundred Rohingya who had entered Thailand illegally, if the number kept growing.

"So far they are not in large numbers, and the Interior Ministry will make a final decision on this," he said.

"The best option remains seeking third countries to host them - a process being worked out by the Foreign Ministry," he added.

Rohingya migrants have been hosted in many provinces, cared for in part with donations provided by local Muslims and Buddhists, while those in poor health have received medical assistance.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official Bjorn Rahn visited Hat Yai Police Station in Songkhla, where 20 Rohingya have been detained for illegal entry.

Rahn said later that he was happy with the conditions of the detention cells and promised to deliver more ICRC supplies to the detainees, while moving forward with legal procedures to help them.

At a shelter in Narathiwat's Yi Ngor district, Muhammad Sabar, 14, led a prayer giving thanks to donors who gave relief supplies to him and 17 other young Rohingya.

He also pleaded with Thai authorities to look for his parents, who disappeared while journeying to Thailand.

"I thank all Thai people who have helped us. I never knew Thai people were full of compassion. If Myanmar were [a peaceful place] like Thailand, none of us would have left it," the boy said through an interpreter.