Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:25 pm Post subject: Rohingyas from Burma seek Refuge in Thailand
Quote:
More Rohingya Boat People Arrive in Southern Thailand
Another boat carrying Rohingyas from Burma landed in southern Thailand on Tuesday amid reports that further vessels were on their way. The boat, with 66 men and boys on board, was the second to arrive at Thailand’s coastal Phang Nga province this month, and a third is reported to have made landfall in the same region in late November.
The Rohingyas, who included two 17-year-old boys, were arrested by local police and face charges of illegally entering Thailand. They join 114 Rohingya who arrived in the area in a small boat last Tuesday and were also arrested. They also faced charges of entering Thailand illegally and subsequent deportation, Police Senior Sergeant Major Banjerd Saengmanee, of Takuapa District, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
The new arrivals came from Maungdaw Township in Burma’s Arakan State.
One detained Rohingya, Zaw Phone, said: “We’d rather like to die here instead of being sent back.” He said the Rohingyas faced persecution by the Burmese authorities in Arakan State.
The Grassroots Human Rights Education organization, which is trying to assist the group, said the Rohingyas had left Burma because of the difficulties of earning a livelihood. Min Oo of the GHRE said they suffered human rights violations such as land confiscation and discrimination at the hands of Burmese authorities. Most of them had no identification papers, he said.
Zaw Phone said: “In Arakan State, we had many troubles due to restrictions (imposed by the Burmese authorities), like you can’t go here and there. We no longer wanted to stay there, so we bought a boat and left the country.”
It is reported that at least one other boat, with about 100 people on board, is on its way to Thailand.
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