Other News
January 21, 2009 16:40 PM
Not Right To Link Rohingyas With Southern Insurgency
BANGKOK, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- It is a dangerous misconception that the Rohingya refugees sneaking into Thailand are heading to the southern provinces to help in the insurgency just because they share the same religion, a human rights advocate said today.
Dr Vitit Muntarbhorn, Professor of Law at Chulalongkorn University, said that although the Rohingyas and the majority of the population in the three southern provinces were Muslims, their plight was historically different and they were fighting for a different cause.
"It's wrong for law enforcement agencies to have this misconception, linking their ethnicity and religion and seeing them as a threat...this is a dangerous link as Rohingyas are not related to the insurgency," he said at the launch of the "Unarmed Heroes: Human Rights Defenders in Thailand" report by the Working Group on Justice for Peace here today.
Dr Vitit, an international expert and leading advocate of child rights, said he could not agree with the allegation by some Thai military officials that Rohingya refugees were coming into the country to help Muslim insurgents who are fighting for independence for the three Muslim-majority provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
He said the Rohingyas, a minority group estimated at 800,000 in the northern part of Arakan state in Myanmar adjacent to Bangladesh, were running from alleged persecution there, and their flows to Thailand and Malaysia had increased in the past two to three years.
The issue of the Rohingya boat people came to light following reports that the Thai navy had pushed hundreds of them out to sea and left them to die. The Indian navy has rescued hundreds of them, and some survivors had claimed abuse by the Thai navy.
According to the Arakan Project, which monitors the movement of the minority group, close to 1,000 people were put in boats without engines and enough food, and pushed back into the sea last month. More than 400 are believed to be missing.
Dr Vitit said that as the Thai law enforcement agencies had denied the allegation, it was best to hold an inquiry to establish the truth before jumping into conclusion, and to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to investigate.
The UNHCR issued a statement today asking permission from the Thai government to meet 126 surviving Rohingyas who are currently detained by the Thai authorities after being rescued.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said today they would allow the UN agency access to the Rohingya people.
But at the same time, Abhisit reiterated that the Thai authorities did not mistreat the refugees, and added that Thailand was having problem containing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries who are coming into the country to seek employment.
-- BERNAMA
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