PHUKET: The 112 Rohingya who landed north of Phuket yesterday after fleeing persecution in Burma included 56 teenagers.The youngest boy is aged just 14.

Another 46 people on board were under 26, Phuketwan discovered when we obtained a list of the names of passengers on the vessel.

Tonight we can assure their families in Burma that at least these boys and young men survived a journey that is said to cost the lives of about half the people who attempt it.

What's more, when they came ashore in Thailand, the Rohingya who caught that flimsy vessel south in search of a better life about a week ago achieved their long-held ambition to be designated as Burmese.

For a brief time, at least in Thailand, these stateless Rohingya, deprived of citizenship in their home country, were officially described as ''Burmese.''

It was a fleeting, illusory granting of homeland hope, in a foreign country that also doesn't want them.

Labelling the stateless Rohingya as ''Burmese'' when they arrive in Thailand simply reduces problems for Thai officials.

It means the Rohingya, presently being subjected to a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Burma, cannot claim refugee status in Thailand.

It means their attempt to escape persecution in Burma does not earn the attention of the Thai media, or the international media.

To all intents and purposes, the Rohingya who flee Burma by boat and have the misfortune to land in Thailand just vanish. They have no status as refugees, not even as people.

They simply disappear. There is no transparency, no declaration by the authorities of what happens to them in Thailand.

So much for human rights in Asean.

The 112 Rohingya, 102 of them under the age of 26, landed on the Thai coast in the province of Phang Nga, north of Phuket, yesterday.

Their boat was holed and incapable of carrying them on to possible sanctuary in Muslim-majority Malaysia, which is probably where they were heading.

We say ''probably'' because no journalists have spoken to these men and boys. They have the protection of no international aid organisation. Tonight, they are the vanished.

When we went looking for the Rohingya today, we could not find a trace.

The boat, we were told, was on a beach in the township of Thai Muang, north of Phuket. By the time we found the spot where the group had landed, the vessel had been towed away by the Thai Navy.

The men and boys, we were told, had been transported to the Immigration Office in Phang Nga Town, capital of the province north of Phuket.

We went looking. When we got there and asked where the Rohingya were, a woman shook her head.

''There was no room for them here,'' the woman said. ''We only have a small cell here. They were all trucked to Ranong last night.''

Ranong is a Thai port on the border with Burma. It's the place where Burmese are taken to be sent back when they are caught working iillegally on Phuket and in the other popular Andamand holiday destinations.

But the Rohingya are unwanted in Burma. They do not have citizenship. Even the Burmese President has said that they should leave, even if their fathers and grandfathers have lived in Burma for centuries.

Deprived of everything a human being needs, the Rohingya flee Burma. If they happen to be spotted by the Thai Navy, their boats are ''helped on'' these days to other destinations.

They are not wanted in Burma, or in Thailand. Yet when a boat does happen to land along the popular Phuket-Andaman Sea tourist coast, as occurred to 112 men and boys just yesterday, they achieve their aim . . . to be Burmese.

If only for a moment. If only to make life easy for officials who have to get rid of them as conveniently as possible.

Where they are now, the boys and men from yesterday's beached boat? Nobody can say.

There is no transparency in the way Thailand handles Burma's unwanted Rohingya.

Just three years ago, the Rohingya were being captured, towed out to open sea and secretly released from Thailand, with hundreds of deaths reported when desperate survivors reached India and Indonesia.

Now, the secrecy has returned.

The Rohingya, stateless and deprived of citizenship in their homeland, are designated as ''Burmese,'' and trucked wherever the Thai authorities please.

Where are the 56 teenagers apprehended yesterday, with ages ranging from 14 to 19? Where are the 46 slightly older men, aged 25 or younger?

We wish we knew. We wish the world knew where they are now.

Here are the names of all 112 boys and men apprehended yesterday, just 30 kilometres north of the popular international holiday destination of Phuket.

The 112 Boatpeople Apprehended in Thailand, November 10

Mahud Duber, 14

Muhamad Are-Yop, 15

Hedsu Loman, 15

Subai, 15

Sumsohok, 15

Abdul Hakim, 15

Soyord Autullao, 15

Hameen Toson, 15

Sana Aullao, 15

Selasu, 15

Abdul Suko, 15

Haidu Husorn, 15

Yousofe Salan, 15

Abcul Munas, 15

Moji Dullao, 15

Ayadullao, 16

17Muhamad Nu, 16

Abdulloman, 16

Hasisudha, 16

Muhamad Yousofe, 16

Abdullmusit, 16

Soyod Toson, 17

Reast Hunden, 17

Muhamad Nulen Hagem, 17

Nolorut Isalam, 17

Cha Cha-ann, 17

Nululamean, 17

Nu Aroom, 17

Ruhu Are-min, 17

Muhamad Rofit, 17

Nu Areram, 17

Abubakuw, 18

Kafrit Tullao, 18

Aboon Sumin, 18

Rafit Kullao, 18

Hamed Toson, 18

Abdulmurit, 18

Abu Torleb, 18

Musakan, 18

Hunsen, 18

Ayas, 18

Aboon Sumin, 18

Sohed Aremad, 18

Chahed-Hoson, 18

Haroon-Borsor, 18

Chuko Tullao, 18

Muhamad Sudan, 18

Bamad Rofix, 18

Muhamad Aroom, 18

Omas Faruk, 18

Muhamadm Chuko, 18

Delowa Hussen, 18

Nu Muhamad, 19

Tale Hudsan, 19

Neamutalao, 19

Chelem Auden, 19

Chalau Allao, 20

Sam Su Arom, 20

Asatullao, 20

Sahed Toson, 20

Aboon Kalam, 20

Hakimullao, 20

Aullao, 20

Hachem Mullao, 20

Salahundeen, 20

Yamaluson, 21

Hakeem Mali, 22

Muhamad Babil, 22

Kailui Are-meen, 22

Kamaluson, 22

Losidullao, 22

Kulamas, 22

Habib, 22

Dlinlas Aullao, 22

Muhamad Tuyup, 22

Nuroon Hug, 22

Soyos Arom, 22

Hamedm Tosun, 22

Nurul Isalam, 22

Muhamad Sorit, 22

Mustamon, 23

Muhamadlorsid, 23

Amon Tullao, 23

Aumas Askbuw, 23

Muhamad Salem, 23

Chana Allao, 23

Rofit, 24

Hlumanlao, 25

Isma-air, 25

Momdu, 25

Safo, 25

Kefrit Tullao, 25

Abdul Kordem, 25

Sahed Tosum, 25

Sahed Toson, 26

Cha Chahan, 28
Somsun Aroom,28

Phura-Auson, 30

Salamud, 30

Aullao, 30

Husen, 30

Jomee Aremad, 30

Yunos, 30

Fasol Hok, 30

Budto, 30

Yamean Losden, 30

Nulun Aremeen, 30

Abbdullohim, 35

Mustas, 35

Abdulsuko, 35

Muhamad, 40

Abdul locheat, 40