PHUKET: Twenty-four Rohingya found in a palm plantation in southern Thailand today have been handed back to human traffickers by police, according to Thai media reports.
The Rohingya were found in Phattalung province and taken to Khao Chai Son Police Station, about 50 kilometres from the large city of Hat Yai in neighboring Songkhla province.
According to media reports, the officers decided to hand the Rohingya back to traffickers rather than deport them.
One Rohingya who could speak Thai said while they were briefly being held that there was a problem between traffickers and they were left by the roadside.
''I don't know about that,'' Lieutenant Jirachet Sermkeaw later told Phuketwan. ''We did receive six Rohingya from the Army later in the day who had also been left by the roadside.''
The six, who appeared to have been left behind as being of little value, included a man who said his leg had been broken by traffickers, a woman with two children and two elderly men.
The six told an interpreter that they had been kept in palm trees in Phattalung for four days without being fed and had decided to walk out, seeking food.
Some among the six said they had previously been kept in a camp in the province of Ranong, on the Thai-Burma border, for 25 days before being shifted south to Phattalung.
The police commander of Phattalung province was not picking up his telephone today.
Hundreds of Rohingya continue to flee poor conditions and threats of violence in Burma's Rakhine state, according to NGOs. Most of them are hoping to find sanctuary in Malaysia.
The Rohingya were found in Phattalung province and taken to Khao Chai Son Police Station, about 50 kilometres from the large city of Hat Yai in neighboring Songkhla province.
According to media reports, the officers decided to hand the Rohingya back to traffickers rather than deport them.
One Rohingya who could speak Thai said while they were briefly being held that there was a problem between traffickers and they were left by the roadside.
''I don't know about that,'' Lieutenant Jirachet Sermkeaw later told Phuketwan. ''We did receive six Rohingya from the Army later in the day who had also been left by the roadside.''
The six, who appeared to have been left behind as being of little value, included a man who said his leg had been broken by traffickers, a woman with two children and two elderly men.
The six told an interpreter that they had been kept in palm trees in Phattalung for four days without being fed and had decided to walk out, seeking food.
Some among the six said they had previously been kept in a camp in the province of Ranong, on the Thai-Burma border, for 25 days before being shifted south to Phattalung.
The police commander of Phattalung province was not picking up his telephone today.
Hundreds of Rohingya continue to flee poor conditions and threats of violence in Burma's Rakhine state, according to NGOs. Most of them are hoping to find sanctuary in Malaysia.
You can't make this stuff up !
Posted by jh on December 3, 2014 00:50