TAKUAPA: District volunteers fired several shots as alleged human traffickers fled a pickup crash scene early today, leaving scores of boatpeople to be apprehended by local authorities north of Phuket.
Fifty-three boatpeople were apprehended, including a pregnant woman and four young children, but as many as 300 other Rohingya and Bangladeshis are said to be in secret jungle camps along the Andaman Sea coast, awaiting transport south to the Malaysian border.
This afternoon armed volunteers surrounded a house amid wild plantations north of Phuket and fired a warning rifle shot to encourage a suspect to surrender.
The man emerged, hands in the air, and confessed to driving the crash pickup - and to being part of the human trafficking trail currently operating through Thailand.
He said he had made three similar trips, each time carrying boatpeople south towards Malaysia, assisting human traffickers at 1000 baht per person.
Two Phuketwan journalists, investigating the trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshi boatpeople, arrived in the Takuapa district north of Phuket as the armed volunteers surrounded several houses today, before flushing out the man.
A previous offender, he was taken away for more intense questioning.
Drivers of the other two pickups also fled. Volunteers, working under anti-trafficking district chief Manit Pleantong, are continuing his campaign to arrest human traffickers operating through the Takuapa region.
At 3am today the local authorities surprised the convoy of three pickups.
The first pickup tried to evade the volunteers and demolished a power pole, which brought the pickup convoy to a halt. In the chaos that followed, the three pickup drivers fled and left their human cargo to be apprehended.
This afternoon a large number of the young men among the boatpeople being held at Takuapa community centre raised their arms to show they all wore black or blue wristbands, a sign they were destined for human traffickers in southern Thailand - if the drivers of the pickups had evaded the volunteers.
Takuapa is the first district in Thailand where a district chief has taken such a strong stance against human trafficking.
Since 2009, the passage of boatpeople through Thailand from Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh has mostly not been impeded.
Traffickers took advantage of the lack of law enforcement to profit from the passage of thousands of people through Thailand, extorting large sums from the friends and family of any boatperson unfortunate to become a captive.
Often the local police declared boatpeople to be illegal immigrants without taking into account reports of beatings, rapes and even deaths that indicated human trafficking was taking place.
Since late last year, Khun Manit has taken up the issue.
Boatpeople apprehended by his volunteers are being questioned individually to determine to international standards for the first time whether they are actually victims of human traffickers.
Today police and immigration officials were assisting in the process. Six weeks ago, local law enforcement officials were less keen to be involved.
Fifty-three boatpeople were apprehended, including a pregnant woman and four young children, but as many as 300 other Rohingya and Bangladeshis are said to be in secret jungle camps along the Andaman Sea coast, awaiting transport south to the Malaysian border.
This afternoon armed volunteers surrounded a house amid wild plantations north of Phuket and fired a warning rifle shot to encourage a suspect to surrender.
The man emerged, hands in the air, and confessed to driving the crash pickup - and to being part of the human trafficking trail currently operating through Thailand.
He said he had made three similar trips, each time carrying boatpeople south towards Malaysia, assisting human traffickers at 1000 baht per person.
Two Phuketwan journalists, investigating the trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshi boatpeople, arrived in the Takuapa district north of Phuket as the armed volunteers surrounded several houses today, before flushing out the man.
A previous offender, he was taken away for more intense questioning.
Drivers of the other two pickups also fled. Volunteers, working under anti-trafficking district chief Manit Pleantong, are continuing his campaign to arrest human traffickers operating through the Takuapa region.
At 3am today the local authorities surprised the convoy of three pickups.
The first pickup tried to evade the volunteers and demolished a power pole, which brought the pickup convoy to a halt. In the chaos that followed, the three pickup drivers fled and left their human cargo to be apprehended.
This afternoon a large number of the young men among the boatpeople being held at Takuapa community centre raised their arms to show they all wore black or blue wristbands, a sign they were destined for human traffickers in southern Thailand - if the drivers of the pickups had evaded the volunteers.
Takuapa is the first district in Thailand where a district chief has taken such a strong stance against human trafficking.
Since 2009, the passage of boatpeople through Thailand from Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh has mostly not been impeded.
Traffickers took advantage of the lack of law enforcement to profit from the passage of thousands of people through Thailand, extorting large sums from the friends and family of any boatperson unfortunate to become a captive.
Often the local police declared boatpeople to be illegal immigrants without taking into account reports of beatings, rapes and even deaths that indicated human trafficking was taking place.
Since late last year, Khun Manit has taken up the issue.
Boatpeople apprehended by his volunteers are being questioned individually to determine to international standards for the first time whether they are actually victims of human traffickers.
Today police and immigration officials were assisting in the process. Six weeks ago, local law enforcement officials were less keen to be involved.
Relentless Khun Manit & Comandos should be wished in the new year of strong spirits, great health and unbreakable devotion to a cause.
Also media reporting on such events is of utter importance as often even when such haul is caught information about it is kept under the table.
Posted by Sue on January 5, 2015 22:52