Human Rights Commission Rohingya-shooting report due ‘this month

                                  Dr.Nirun ,The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) at Bangkok Press Conference organized by B.R.A.T

Phuket News	Sunday, September 1, 2013  Phuket time: 1:41 AM

Human Rights Commission Rohingya-shooting report due ‘this month’

Phuket Gazette - Saturday, August 31, 2013 1:22:00 PM

Ketsarin Tiawsakul, director of the HRC’s human rights infringement investigation office. Photo: Ketsarin Tiawsakul / Facebook

PHUKET: The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) yesterday confirmed that the report on the case of the Royal Thai Navy opening fire on Rohingya refugees off the coast of Ranong in February, will be concluded this month.
During the shooting, naval personnel allegedly killed at least two refugees fleeing arrest.

The report will be handed over to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra “as soon as possible”, the Phuket Gazette was told.

“Our investigation concerning the allegation of the Royal Thai Navy killing at least two Rohingya will be concluded soon. We’re endeavoring to finish it by the middle of September,” Dr Nirun Phitakwatchara of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) confirmed to the Gazette.

Five months ago, PM Yingluck vowed in front of the international press that the incident would be investigated (story here). Since then, however, details of the investigation process have not been revealed and no deadline has been set for the completion of the investigation.
“We are now working on putting all the evidence and information together in the report that will be handed over to PM Yingluck, in the interests of resolving the whole Rohingya issue in Thailand,” said Dr Nirun.

“In addition to the alleged killings, other issues have been included in the report, including the overcrowded conditions of Rohingya refugees in Thailand’s refugee shelters, the manner in which they are treated, and what country or countries they will eventually be transferred to,” he said.

“It has taken a long time to conclude the report because the Rohingya refugee issue is a big one and has many dimensions. We have sent our staff to a number of locations to collect as much information as possible for our investigation, in order to build up a dossier comprehensive enough to be handed over to the Prime Minister.”

Dr Nirun disclosed that suggestions to solve problems related to the Rohingya-refugee influx will be included in the report, but cautioned that he could not disclose any of these suggestions at present because the investigation is still incomplete.

However, Dr Nirun did clearly state: “We are not trying to interfere with any national authority or apportion blame, especially towards the navy.

“This is not just a national issue, it is a global one. The issue needs to be solved by several government departments working in the same direction.

“Policies need to be made to prepare for the problem we are facing, mindful that many more Rohingya refugees will be arriving on our shores. We don’t want this to become a chronic problem for Thailand.”

Print this story | Send it to a friend  Save story to computer as pdf file Send Letter to Gazette Editor Comment on this story – Chutharat Plerin Phuket,Thailand 13:22 local

20 Rohingya escape in Ayutthaya

Breakingnews > 

31 Aug 2013 at 16.07

AYUTTHAYA - Twenty Rohingya migrants escaped from a detention centre in tambon Hua Ro of Muang district on Saturday morning, police said.

The illegal immigrants had been transferred to the site in Ayutthaya six months ago by the Immigration Bureau in Kanchanaburi. Authorities decided on the transfer because of conflicts that had broken out with another 20 Rohingya who had been detained and were awaiting repatriation.

Pol Maj Gen Kornek Phetchaives, superintendent of Ayutthaya police station, said officers from 26 stations were on alert for the escapers.
Police realised at around 5am Saturday that the Rohingya under their responsibility had disappeared, he said.

The police found only their mattresses and clothes and a hole in a steel structure in the detention room, which is situated inside the compound of a police station.
There have been frequent breakouts from immigration detention centres by Rohingya migrants who fear being sent back to Myanmar where they face persecution. Those who elude capture seek to become labourers but some become victims of human traffickers.
Human rights groups have urged the Thai government to create better shelters for the migrants until a more long-term solution can be found.

They say that the Immigration Act gives authorities the discretion to move the Rohingya to a proper place outside of immigration detention centres.

Credid: Bangkok Post 

Bangkok conference highlights abuses of Rohingya refugees

       Burma News International

Bangkok conference highlights abuses of Rohingya refugees

Wednesday, 28 August 2013 15:46 Kaladan Press News - Kaladan Press

 E-mail | Print | PDF 

Being a refugee does not make you a criminal, said Dr. Niran Pitakwatchara, from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Panel speakers at the press conference in Bangkok

SPEAKERS
Dr.Niran Pitakwatchara

    National Human Right Commissioner of Thailand

Mr.Surapong Kongchantuk

    Human Rights Committee, Lawyers Council of Thailand
Mr.Sunai Phasuk

    Advisor of Human Rights Watch

Ms.Saowanee Khomepatr

    Director, Bureau of Anti-Trafficking in Woman and Children, Ministry of     Social Development and Human Security

Mr.Sarawoot Sriwannayos

    Former President of Young Thai Muslim Organization

U Maung Kyaw Nu

    President of Burmese Rohinya Association in Thailand

Ms.Thananuch Sanguansak

    Editor of  Feature News, Nation Channal (Moderater)

 All Seven Panel Speakers

 Pitakwatchara was one of many academics to speak at “The Rohingya: Unwanted and Alone in Thailand” press conference hosted by the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) at the Student Christian Centre (SCC) in Bangkok.

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled from persecution in Burma to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia over the past year. They paid smugglers to send them by sea route. Many have been nabbed by Thai authorities and detained in overcrowded temporary holding cells.
“I was concerned that the Rohingya refugees were being deprived of basic rights while under temporary care in Thailand,” Pitakwatchara said.

It’s time for the government to move the displaced refugees to temporary shelters until practical longer-term solutions are found, he said.

"Though Thailand is not a signatory (to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention), relevant ministries could actually expedite their authority in providing decent and appropriate shelters for these people, based on human rights principles in the Thai Constitution… There is adequate religious and community support for the Rohingya while they wait for appropriate durable solutions," Pitakwatchara said.

But “any local communities identified as sites for temporary shelters should be closely consulted before the Rohingya are relocated” he added.
The Thai immigration act allows authorities the discretionary power to move the refugees to a proper place outside of the immigration detention centers. It’s estimated that about 2000 Rohingya are being held in Thailand. At least 86 refugees recently escaped from a holding centre in southern Sadao district, according to police.

Decisions about policies regarding the detainment and treatment of Rohingya refuges need to be decided soon, said Saowanee Khomepatr, director of the Anti-Trafficking in Women and Children division of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. When these refugees are separated from their families for long periods the family may become disheartened. In some cases family members have been lured by gangsters to meet up with their families in Malaysia and Indonesia without knowing their relatives are actually being detained in Thailand.

Many Rohingya have fled their country following last year’s violence where human rights abuses at the hands of state authorities and extremist Rakhines has been reported to be ongoing. Those that have left have included many women and children who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by the smugglers.

“The Yingluck Shinawatra government had promised not to deport the Rohingya against their will, while the previous Democrat administration allowed them to be quietly pushed back at the border. That is one positive policy development in this year,” said Sunai Phasuk, an advisor for Human Rights Watch.

However clear guidelines in dealing with illegal immigrants still needs to be firmly entrenched within Thai law, said Surapong Kongchuntuk, a member of the Human Rights Committee of the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
“Authorities should communicate and coordinate with Thai society to better accommodate the temporary stay of the Rohingya. The Thai government has prepared a set of policies on illegal immigrants, which include the Rohingya, but the National Security Council has dragged this out without launching specific measures," Kongchuntuk said.

Coastal and inland officials shouldn’t deport or push Rohingya refugees back to sea. Strict punishment needs to be given to trafficking syndicates, in particular the uniformed and civilian officials in their ranks, as a stern warning to the would be smugglers, Kongchuntuk said.

The influx of refugees into the neighboring countries has gone from just being a regional problem to becoming an international problem. In order to address it requires both a regional and international approach. If there is any hope of the Rohingya living a life in line with the universal declaration of human rights it will come from this, said U Maung Kyaw Nu, BRAT president

Rohingyas are not economic migrants. They are refugees compelled to flee their homes from an oppressive regime, he said. They should be categorized as such under the UN Convention of Refugee. The treatment of Rohingya by Thai authorities is clearly in violation of universal human rights. They are in need of protection and provision until a viable solution can be found.

http://www.bnionline.net/index.php/news/kaladan/16040-bangkok-conference-highlights-abuses-of-rohingya-refugees.html

credit-Burma News International BNI

Govt extends migrants' detention another 6 months

Govt extends migrants' detention another 6 months

A Rohingya Muslim illegal immigrant puts his hand on the railing inside the Immigration Detention Centre during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kanchanaburi province July 10, 2013.Credit: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK | Tue Aug 20, 2013 5:28am EDT

Published: 30 Aug 2013 at 00.00

Newspaper section: News

The government has agreed to hold about 2,000 Rohingya migrants in detention centres nationwide for another six months, Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said on Thursday.

The migrants were originally due to remain in the centres for six months 

 while the government assessed options for their relocation, but that initial deadline passed last month. The new detention deadline would end in 

January.

The deputy PM, who oversees national security, was responding to an opposition request for details on the government's policy to deal with the Rohingya migrants. 

The request was made during a parliamentary session yesterday by 

Democrat MP for Bangkok Samart Maluleem.

Mr Samart said more than 2,000 Rohingya were being detained at

 immigration detention centres. He said he was concerned by 

overcrowding in the centres.

Pol Gen Pracha said the Rohingya, most of whom travelled by boat 

to escape religious unrest in Myanmar's Rakhine state, had breached 

the 1979 Immigration Act. 

The law allows immigration officers to detain them only at Immigration

 Bureau detention centres. However, some Rohingya women and 

children with health problems are being held at shelters operated

 by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

 Pol Gen Pracha said the government was also concerned about 

the living conditions of the Rohingya.

He said the Foreign Ministry would use the detention deadline 

extension to hold talks with international organisations to 

explain the government's policy in caring for the migrants.

The ministry has already held talks with Myanmar and asked it to 

help repatriate the Rohingya. Myanmar, however, has expressed 

doubts about the origin of the migrants, saying it needed verification 

of their idendities,

National Human Rights Commissioner Niran Pithakwatchara, who

 oversees the Rohingya problem, said he would ask the government 

next week to help provide the Rohingya with proper shelters and 

to raise the problem at an ASEAN forum.

. "It is not just a Thai problem, it is one for all Asean countries," Dr Niran said.

Meanwhile, four Rohingya who earlier escaped from Singkhorn detention centre in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Muang district were apprehended in Bang Saphan district yesterday. Police said they were attempting to reach Malaysia.

Find humane Rohingya fix

Opinion > Opinion

EDITORIAL

Find humane Rohingya fix

• Published: 30 Aug 2013 at 00.00

When Social Development and Human Security Minister Pavena Hongsakul visited Rohingya boat people at the immigration detention centre in Phangnga last month, she was appalled by their poor living conditions.

To squeeze more than 200 people in a very small space is inhumane, she said. Since it is the same situation for hundreds of Rohingya boat people at police stations in other provinces, she proposed giving these asylum seekers a more decent temporary shelter by making use of old refugee camps.

Her proposal has been met with silence from the army, the police, provincial and immigration authorities. Given the locals' resistance due to lack of local consultation, it seems the refugee camp idea is over.

Interestingly, the offer by local Muslim communities to use their mosques as temporary shelters for the Muslim Rohingya boat people has also fallen on deaf ears.
Shortly after Ms Pavena's visit, the Rohingya detainees at Phangnga staged a mass jail break. Rohingya escapes at other detention centres in different provinces have followed suit on a nearly daily basis.

These escapes cannot happen without help from corrupt officials and the human traffickers could not be happier. They can demand another round of payment from the Rohingya who desperately want to find jobs and meet relatives in other countries. Whether their wish will come true or whether they will be sold to another group of traffickers again is anybody's guess.

Thailand needs to come up with a humane policy toward the Rohingya boat people which does not benefit human traffickers. Yet, the authorities seem to have taken the opposite approach.

Earlier this week, the immigration and police authorities _ citing lack of space and money to detain the Rohingya _ again requested the green light to deport the Rohingya back to Myanmar.
This policy should not even be considered. To start with, the Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine state are not illegal immigrants. They are refugees fleeing violent persecution. They should not have been arrested and jailed in the first place. Deporting them to Myanmar is sending them back to danger, even death, which violates international principles.
The deportation push shows that the police and immigration officials want to return to their old ways. The Rohingya will just be dropped at the borders, to be later bought and exploited by the human traffickers again.

At a recent conference on solutions to the Rohingya problem, the National Human Rights Commission and the Lawyers Council of Thailand proposed a set of policies to the government.

First and foremost, treat them as they are _ refugees or asylum seekers, not illegal migrants. Next, drop the deportation idea. Then allow families to stay together in decent temporary shelters. No more police cells. Verify their identity, residency and needs so they can be treated accordingly. Coordinate with their embassies or home governments for their safe return, if that is what the Rohingya want. Allow the UNHCR to take care of the Rohingya refugees and arrange third-country placement. Get tough with the human-trafficking rackets. And allow local Muslim communities to provide temporary shelter and care for the Rohingya boat people.

The government should heed these measures. It also must pressure Myanmar to stop persecuting the Rohingya and grant them citizenship. If not, Thailand and other Asean countries will continue to shoulder the burdens of Myanmar's hate crimes.

11 Rohingyas escape Rayong immigration jail

Friday, 30 August 2013 From Issue Vol. XXI No. 35 By  Patcharapol Panr

Immigration police and provincial officers recaptured only six of 17 illegal Rohingya migrants that escaped immigration custody in Rayong where they’d been kept for more than six months.

More than 100 officers searched for the 11 ethnic Muslims from Myanmar after their escape where another 100 Rohingyas have been held since early this year after seeking refuge in Thailand.

Officials search the surrounding areas that might be hiding 11 of 17 Rohingya migrants that escaped immigration custody in Rayong.

Immigration officials said the Rohingya detainees cut metal bars on the second floor of the Maptaput Immigration Prison before climbing down the building at about 4 a.m. Aug. 17. They said the migrants are believed to be hiding in the province and local officers have distributed photos of the escapees to people in nearby communities in hopes to recapture them.

Thai officials claimed they rescued the Rohingya Muslims from human trafficking gangs and sent them to several immigration detention centers around the country for their safety. But the aliens have been held in overcrowded conditions for months on end as Thailand’s leaders struggle with what to do with them. Many have tried to escape.

Thailand has come under increasing international pressure over its treatment of Rohingya detainees, with organizations such as Human Rights Watch alleging widespread human-rights abuses for keeping the illegal immigrants in “unsafe” and “inhumane” conditions.
On Aug. 20, HWC issued a statement calling on Thailand to release the 1,839 Muslims being held, blasting an Aug. 13 government proposal to transfer the asylum seekers from prisons to refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.

“Despite the fact that many Rohingyas fled ‘ethnic cleansing’ and crimes against humanity last year in Burma’s Arakan State, the Thai government refuses to consider Rohingya as refugees,” HWC said in a statement. “Many immigration detention centers are severely overcrowded and lack access to medical services and other basic necessities. Rohingya men are restricted to extremely cramped conditions in small cells resembling large cages. (And) Thai and Rohingya human traffickers have gained access to the government shelters and sought to lure out Rohingya women and children.”
Flying in the face of such allegations, Rayong Immigration Police Superintendent Col. Prasanth Khaemaprasith claimed the detainees kept six months in Rayong were treated well.

“Police had taken good care of them, gave them food, time to exercise, and checked for illnesses,” he said. “They should not have escaped because they were not being bullied or mistreated.”

Buddhist monk ignites violence against Rohingya

Asia-Pasific

15:06, 29 August 2013 Thursday

Buddhist monk ignites violence against Rohingya 

 

Myanmar's radical monk Wirathu's anti-Muslim rhetoric has placed him at the centre of rising religious violence, according to the BBC report

World Bulletin / News Desk

 

This week, religious violence has once again flared in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Hundreds of Muslim homes have been burnt to the ground in Sagaing region after being attacked by Buddhist mobs.

In just over a year more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed and many more displaced as unrest has spread from Rakhine state in the west to towns across the country.
According to the BBC report, many are blaming a controversial monk and the nationalist organisation he helps lead for the rising tensions.

Shin Wirathu teaches his students "that the country is under attack from Muslim "invaders".
"Muslims are only well behaved when they are weak, " he said. "When they become strong, they are like a wolf or a jackal, in large packs they hunt down other animals."
Wirathu believes there is a Muslim "master plan" underway to turn Myanmar into an Islamic state.

If he is right, it is a long-term project. Latest estimates suggest that of Myanmar's 60 million people, 90% are Buddhist and about 5% Muslim.
"Over the past 50 years, we have shopped at Muslim shops and then they became richer and wealthier than us and can buy and marry our girls," Wirathu said. "In this way, they have destroyed and penetrated not only our nation but also our religion."

Wirathu's solution lies in a controversial nationalist organisation called 969, BBC reports. It calls on Buddhists to shop, sell property and marry within their own religion.
A short drive from Wirathu's monastery, Muslim volunteers guard Joon Mosque, the biggest in Mandalay, each night. The men told me that in the event of a Buddhist attack, they expect no protection from the (Buddhist-dominated) police or the army.
Some Muslims cling to the hope that there exists a silent majority of moderate Buddhists appalled by recent events, secretly rooting for them.

Predominantly Buddhist Burma has been grappling with sectarian violence since the country's military rulers handed over power to a nominally civilian government in 2011.
More than 250 people have been killed, most of them Muslims, and 140,000 others forced to flee their homes.

The most serious attacks took place in Rakhine State in the west in June and October last year, when Buddhists attacked Arakan Muslims, who are denied citizenship by Myanmar and seen by many in the country as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. At least 192 people were killed.

A Reuters investigation found that the wave of attacks in October had been organised, led by Rakhine nationalists tied to a powerful political party in the state and incited by Buddhist monks, abetted at times by local security forces.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=116409
credit-World Bulletin

“Migration in Thailand and ASEAN – Current Humanitarian Concerns and Future Perspectives”

Workshop

on

“Migration in Thailand and ASEAN – Current Humanitarian

Concerns and Future Perspectives”

of August 2013, Faculty of Law, Thammasat Faculty, Tha Prachan

Campus, Room 321, 3

rd

floor

The German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG) will arrange a roundtable on Tuesday, 27 August, at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, to discuss the issue of  migration in Thailand and ASEAN. Isues of discussion would be the  current humanitarian situations of migrants and furture developments as  well as approaches and concepts to deal with migration of the ASEAN  level and migration policy and politics on international organizations/

8.45 – 9.15 am Registration

9.15 – 9.30 am Welcoming words

      Assoc. Prof. Narong Jaiharn, Dean, Faculty of Law,
Thammasat University

Henning Glaser, Head, German-Southeast Asian Center of

Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance

9.30 – 10.50 am “Migration in Thailand and ASEAN – Current

Humanitarian Concerns and Future Perspectives”

Panel speakers:

Prof. Dr. Supang Chantavanich, Director, Asian Research

Center for Migration, Institute for Asian Studies,

Chulalongkorn University

HE. Kasit Piromya, Member of the House of Representatives

of Thailand,Former Foreign Minister.

Maung Kyaw Nu, President, Burmese Rohingya Association

in Thailand

Michiko Ito, Resettlement Officer, International Organization

for Migration

10.50 – 11.00 am Coffee break

11.00 am – 12.15 pm Open forum for discussion

12.15 pm Closing of the workshop and joint lunch

Breakingnews >Migrant solution needed urgently

• credit-Bangkok Post
• Published: 24 Aug 2013 at 14.32

The Thai government should quickly decide on temporary shelters for displaced Rohingya people until practical longer-term solutions are reached, says a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Dr Niran Pitakwatchara said he was concerned that the Rohingya refugees were being deprived of basic rights while under temporary care in Thailand.

After drifting at the sea and being towed into various islands in southern Thailand since early this year, the migrants have been kept in scattered shelters and detention centres nationwide.

Now it is time for the government to decide what to do next, said Dr Niran.
Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled persecution in Myanmar over the past year and many have ended up in Thailand.
They faced poor temporary shelter, exploitation by trafficking gangs, and extortion from smuggling gangs during their stay in Thailand, Dr Niran said at a seminar on the refugee problem.

He suggested that something could still be done despite the seeming lack of long-term policy measures.
"Though Thailand is not a signatory [to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention], relevant ministries could actually expedite their authority in providing decent and appropriate shelters for these people, based on human rights principles in the Thai Constitution," said Dr Niran.

Any local communities identified as sites for temporary shelters should be closely consulted before the Rohingya are relocated, he said.
"Being a refugee is not criminal. The Rohingya are not illegal immigrants," he said, arguing against the use of detention centres.

"There is adequate religious and community support for the Rohingya while they wait for appropriate durable solutions."

The Immigration Act, he said, gave authorities the discretion to move out the Rohingya to a proper place outside of immigration detention centres.

The need for a better solution has become more urgent, agreed Saowanee Khomepatr, director of the Anti-Trafficking in Women and Children division of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

Whatever decisions are made, policymakers should implement them quickly since separated families have become disheartened and some were being lured by gangsters to meet up with their families in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Maung Kyaw Nu, president of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand, said Asean and the world should no longer allow Myanmar to permit genocide against the Rohingya, who were a legitimate ethnic group inside Myanmar.

The Rohingya are Aryan descendants of Mongoloid origin and the Myanmar government must return citizenship to them, he said. 

Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch said the Rohingya exodus in the past year included more women and children as conditions inside their country of origin deteriorated.
Communication problems and uncertainty in their future have made them unwilling to cooperate with fact-finding and informal registration, said Mr Sunai.
He proposed that the Thai government work with the UN refugee agency to check numbers and carry out formal registration while the migrants are under the temporary protection of Thailand.

He also said the government remained lax in uncovering and prosecuting trafficking gangs. In some cases the gangs have operated with the cooperation or active participation by Thai police and military figures, activists have claimed.

The one positive policy development, he said, had been that the Yingluck Shinawatra government had promised not to deport the Rohingya against their will, while the previous Democrat administration allowed them to be quietly pushed back at the border.

Surapong Kongchuntuk, a member of the Human Rights Committee of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, said authorities should communicate and coordinate with Thai society to better accommodate the temporary stay of the Rohingya.
"The Thai government has prepared a set of policies on illegal immigrants which include the Rohingya but the National Security Council has dragged this out without launching specific measures," he said.
He suggested that for a start, all coastal and inland officials should be told not to deport or push Rohingya boat people back to sea.

Trafficking syndicates, especially the uniformed and civilian officials in their ranks, should be also punished to give a stern warning to traffickers, added Mr Surapong.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/366200/rohingya-shelters-needed-until-clearer-policy-emerges

BRAT held press conference on “The Rohingya – unwanted and alone in Thailand”

 Credit-RB News-

BRAT held press conference in Bangkok (9 photos)

BRAT held press conference on “The Rohingya – unwanted and alone in Thailand”

By RB News

Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand based Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) held a press conference at Student Christian Centre in Bangkok on August 24, 2013.

At the press conference, BRAT’s president U Maung Kyaw Nu said that Rohingyas are not economic migrants but compelled by oppressive regime to flee their home and hearth for the fear of persecution which categorically considered under UN Convention of Refugee so that they should be dealt accordingly with humanity. Present treatment of Rohingya by Thailand is not a solution for now and then. It is clear violation of universal human rights while Rohingya are direly in need of protection and provision then a viable solution.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1c9EX3f

   

Rohingya Have Help From Officials to Escape, Media Told- The Rohingya issue media conference and round-table in Bangkok yesterday Photo by phuketwan.com

The Rohingya issue media conference and round-table in Bangkok yesterday

Photo by phuketwan.com

Rohingya Have Help From Officials to Escape, Media Told

By Chutima Sidasathian

Sunday, August 25, 2013

BANGKOK: Thailand should allow Rohingya to work freely rather than imprisoning them in atrocious conditions at detention centres, a media conference was told yesterday.

Speakers at the media conference endorsed the view that with migrant worker status, the Rohingya could be reunited with their families.

''Thailand would no longer be accused of human rights violations if the Government treated them with more compassion,'' said Surapong Kongchantuk of the
Human Rights Committee, Lawyers Council of Thailand.

Some Thai authorities were already so frustrated with the indefinite detention of Rohingya that they were assisting the boatpeople to escape.

''They could not break out by themselves,'' Khun Surapong said.

Men remained separated from women and children and there had been no real attempt to develop a workable policy that allowed captive Rohingya to be reunited as families, he added.

''The Thai government is prepared to talk face-to-face with the Burmese government about large economic projects but not to talk face-to-face about Burma resolving this issue,'' Khun Surapong said.

Sunai Phasuk, a Human Rights Watch advisor, said it was shameful that Burma was about to assume the chair of Asean in 2014, yet Asean had done nothing to solve the Rohingya issue.

''Why doesn't Asean force Burma to resolve this problem?'' he asked.

If allowed to live freely in Thailand, the Rohingya held captive since January could self-report to authorities periodically and would not be a drain on the Thai economy.

Muslim communites had said they were prepared to take responsibility for caring for the Rohingya.

Thailand's Navy, the Army, Isoc and Immigration did not treat the would-be refugees to standards required by international law, the conference heard.

Allegations that Thai citizens, police, Isoc, the Army, and Immigration officials had engaged in human trafficking should be independently investigated, the meeting was told.

In just a few weeks, thousands more Rohingya are expected to take to boats for the next ''sailing season'' with a resolution of the issue no closer.

Eight Rohingya men are reported to have died in custody in Thailand this year. Protests and escapes from Immigration centres, family welfare centres and police stations are expected to continue.

Saturday's media conference and round-table discussion was organised by the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand.

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/rohingya-help-officials-escape-media-told-18696/

Workshop on “Migration in Thailand and ASEAN – Current Humanitarian Concerns and Future Perspectives”

Workshop

on

“Migration in Thailand and ASEAN – Current Humanitarian Concerns and Future Perspectives”

Tuesday, 27th of August 2013, Faculty of Law, Thammasat Faculty, Tha Prachan Campus, Room 221, 2nd floor

Agenda

8.45 – 9.15 am Registration

9.15 – 9.30 am Welcoming words



Henning Glaser, Head, German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance

9.30 – 10.45 am “Migration in Thailand and ASEAN – Current Humanitarian Concerns and Future Perspectives”

Panel speakers:

HE. Kasit Piromya, Member of the House of Representatives of Thailand

Maung Kyaw Nu, President, Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand

Laurent Meillan, Human Rights Officer, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, Bangkok Office

10.45 am – 12.15 pm Open forum for discussion

12.15 pm Closing of the workshop and joint lunch

INVITATION : PRESS CONFERENCE ---The Rohingya – "unwanted and alone in Thailand…”

Dear Sir/Madam

The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) invites you to attend an important press conference which will focus on the current crisis facing the Rohingya in Myanmar and neighbouring countries like Thailand. The press conference will be held on Saturday, 24 August between 9:30 - 13:00 on Saturday, at Student Christian Centre (SCC), Phayathai road, Rachathewi Sky train Station

As you know, this is a critical period for the Rohingya in Thailand. More than 2000 are now held in atrocious conditions in Thai detention centres and their future in this country is uncertain. The six month deadline allowing them to stay on Thai soil has now passed. Furthermore, Thailand is being used as a transit zone by ruthless criminal gangs to traffic which Rohingya on to countries like Malaysia.

Your personal contribution to this press conference and round-table discussion would be greatly valued and I do hope you will be able to make it. Please get in touch using my contact details listed above.

Organizer and Sponsor:
Central Committee Members,

Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand,B.R.A.T

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Maung Kyaw Nu,

President,

Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand ,B.R.A.T

Email:brat.headoffice@gmail.com

http://www.rohingyathai.blogspot.com

Please contact:085-369 0442
----------

PRESS CONFERENCE: Organized and sponsored by B.R.A T

Saturday, August 24,2013 9.30 - 13.00 Lunch 13: 00 to 14: 00

Address: Student Christian Centre (SCC), Phayathai road, Rachathewi Sky train

             
                    OUTLET

The Rohingya – "unwanted and alone in Thailand…”

The Rohingya are an ethnic minority person now fleeing a vicious ethnic conflict in Arakan, north-west Myanmar. The situation there is desperate; according to civil rights group like ‘Human Rights Watch’, the Rohingya are victims of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. As a consequence, we are witnessing the start of a ‘general exodus’, with tens of thousands now fleeing genocide north-west Rakhine State by boat.

This exodus has thrown an intense spotlight on neighboring countries like Thailand. Some 2000 Rohingya are now being held in atrocious conditions in Thai detention centers while many more are being moved through remote Thai locations by criminal gangs. Pressure is building on Thailand’s government to provide better accommodation and long-term certainty to Rohingya detainees. Activists are calling on Thai government officials to lobby their counterparts in Myanmar for better treatment and long-term solutions – like international protection and to return citizenship for the Rohingya in Myanmar.

SPEAKERS


Dr.Niran Pitakwatchara
National Human Right Commissioner of Thailand

Mr.Surapong Kongchantuk
Human Rights Committee, Lawyers Council of Thailand

Mr.Sunai Phasuk
Advisor of Human Rights Watch

Ms.Saowanee Khomepatr
Director, Bureau of Anti-Trafficking in Woman and Children, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security

Mr.Sarawoot Sriwannayos
Former President of Young Thai Muslim Organization

U Maung Kyaw Nu
President of Burmese Rohinya Association in Thailand,B.R.A.T

Ms.Thananuch Sanguansak
Editor of Feature News, Nation Channal (Moderator)

Organizer / Sponsor:
Central Committee Members,
,Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand,B.R.A.T

email:brat.headofice@gmail.com
 

http://www.rohingyathai.blogspot.com/
More information :

U Maung Kyaw Nu          085-3690442 (English, Rohinya, Burmese)

Mr.Younus Gora Mya       089 460 9160(Thai ,Burmese ,Rohingya)

Mr.Abdul Mabud             085-3598536 (Thai,Rohinya,Urdu)

Coffee break -10:30-10:15 am , Lunch break :13:00-14:00 pm

B.R.A.T Eemergency Meeting :2:00 -4:00pm

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ณ ชั้น 2 อาคารประชาสัมพันธ์ สำนักกลางนักเรียนคริสเตียน พญาไท ราชเทวี (เชิงสะพานหัวช้าง)

วันเสาร์ที่ 24 สิงหาคม 2556 เวลา 09.00 – 14.00 น.

กำหนดการ

09.00 – 09.30 น. ลงทะเบียน

09.30 – 13.00 น. เสวนา เรื่อง โรฮิงญาในประเทศไทยทางออกควรเป็นอย่างไร โดย

- นิรันดร์ พิทักษ์วัชระ

กรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ

สุรพงษ์ กองจันทึก

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ผู้อำนวยการสำนักป้องกันและแก้ไขปัญหาการค้าหญิงและเด็ก

กระทรวงการพัฒนาสังคมและความมั่นคงของมนุษย์

สุณัย ผาสุข

ที่ปรึกษา Human Right Watch,HRW

ศราวุธ ศรีวรรณยศ

อดีตประธานสภาองค์การมุสลิมแห่งประเทศไทย

Maung Kyaw Nu

President of Burmese Rohinya Association in Thailand,B.R.A.T

ธนานุช สงวนศักดิ์

ประสานงาน นางสาวทิพย์วิมล ศิรินุพงศ์

โทร : 085 – 0440234บรรณาธิการสารคดีเชิงข่าว เนชั่นแชลแนล ดำเนินรายการ

13.00 - 14.00 น. รับประทานอาหารกลางวัน


Organizer/Sponsor
The Central Committee
Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand
email:brat.headofice@gmail.com
http://www.rohingyathai.blogspot.com

For more information:

U Maung Kyaw Nu- 085 369 0442.(English)

Mr.Younus Gora Mya 089 460 9160(Thai )
Mr.Abdul Mahboud 085 359 8536(Urdu)

Email:brat.headoffice@gmail.com

ประสานงาน

นางสาวทิพย์วิมล  ศิรินุพงศ์

โทร : 085 – 0440234

Email: thipvimon@gmail.com

Release the Rohinya and let them work in Thailand

Brad Adams

Human Rights Watch
Special to The Nation August 23, 2013 1:00 am

 

Rohingyas intercepted on the Thai coast are sent to the crowded Phan Nga immigration detention centre.

The government should end the inhumane separation and detention of ethnic Rohingya families from Myanmar and allow them to contribute to the Thai economy

For years, thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan State have set sail to flee persecution by the Myanmar government. The situation significantly worsened following sectarian violence in Arakan State in June 2012 between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Arakanese, which displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya from their homes.

In October 2012, Arakanese political and religious leaders and state security forces committed crimes against humanity in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya.

During the so-called "sailing season" between October 2012 and March 2013, more than 35,000 Rohingya are believed to have fled the country. International pressure on Thailand to provide temporary protection to Rohingya arriving on its shores resulted in the current detention policy. Since January, more than 1,800 Rohingya have been sent to immigration detention centres and shelters. However, many thousands more have been intercepted at sea by Thai officials and either redirected to Malaysia or allegedly handed over to people smugglers and human traffickers who demand payment to release them and send them onwards.
Thailand's misnamed "help on" policy towards small boats carrying Rohingya has failed to provide Rohingya asylum-seekers with the protections required under international law, and in some cases significantly increased their risk. Under this policy, the Thai Navy intercepts Rohingya boats that come close to the Thai coast and supposedly provides them with fuel, food, water and other supplies on the condition that the boats continue onward to Malaysia or Indonesia. Instead of helping or providing protection, the "help on" policy either pushes ill-equipped boats of asylum-seekers onwards at sea, or sees them handed over to people smugglers who promise to send the Rohingya onwards for a price, and hand over those unable to pay to human traffickers.

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution. While Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, under customary international law the Thai government has an obligation of "non-refoulement" - not to return anyone to places where their life or freedom would be at risk. In its "Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers", the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reaffirmed the basic human right to seek asylum and stated that "as a general rule, asylum-seekers should not be detained". The UNHCR guidelines also state that detention should not be used as a punitive or disciplinary measure, or as a means of discouraging refugees from applying for asylum.

On August 13, the Cabinet considered a plan to transfer 1,839 Rohingya who have been held in immigration detention facilities and social welfare shelters across Thailand to refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Some senior Thai officials have recognised the Rohingya's plight but are still considering proposals that would keep them detained. The Thai government needs to end the inhumane detention of Rohingya and ensure the UN refugee agency and other international organisations have full access to provide much-needed protection and assistance.

On August 9, the Thai minister of social development and human security, Paveena Hongsakula, told the media that the detention and trafficking of Rohingya in Thailand were serious human rights issues. Yet at the Cabinet meeting four days later, she proposed sending them to refugee camps, a plan that reportedly has the backing of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Foreign Affairs Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul. Despite the fact that many Rohingya fled "ethnic cleansing" and crimes against humanity in Myanmar's Arakan State, the Thai government refuses to consider the Rohingya as refugees.

The Thai authorities have also discussed proposals to create alternative centres for the Rohingya or expand the capacity to hold Rohingya at existing immigration detention centres in Songkhla, Ranong, Prachuab Khiri Khan and Nong Khai provinces.

Since January, the Thai authorities have detained 2,055 Rohingya on the grounds that they entered the country illegally, according to the government. Thailand has separated Rohingya families. Rohingya men have been sent to various immigration detention centres, while Rohingya women and children have been held in shelters managed by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

As documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Thai and Rohingya human traffickers have gained access to the government shelters and sought to lure out Rohingya women and children. In June, traffickers who promised to reunite Narunisa, a 25-year-old Rohingya in a shelter in Phang Nga province, with her husband in Malaysia for a Bt50,000 fee, instead raped her repeatedly.

Many immigration detention centres are severely overcrowded and lack access to medical services and other basic necessities. Rohingya men are restricted to extremely cramped conditions in small cells resembling large cages, where they barely have room to sit. Some suffer from swollen feet and withered leg muscles due to lack of exercise because they have not been let out of the cells for up to five months. Eight Rohingya men have died from illness while in detention. Interventions by international agencies to provide health services, prompted in part by media exposure and international expressions of concern, have resulted in health improvements, but many Rohingya still face unacceptable risks to their health due to poor detention conditions. The government should recognise that its punitive detention policy is both inhumane and counterproductive.

Since July, Rohingya men fearful of being sent back to persecution in Myanmar or detained indefinitely in Thailand have staged protests at detention facilities in Songkhla and Phang Nga. Approximately 208 Rohingya men, women and children have also escaped from detention to unknown locations.

The Thai authorities should allow the Rohingya to seek migrant worker status, which would permit them to work and move freely. Because the Myanmar government discriminates against the Rohingya, denying them Myanmar nationality, Thailand should waive the nationality verification programme requirement for migrant worker status.

The Rohingya have fled horrific abuses in Myanmar that would put many at risk were they to return home. Instead of sticking them in border camps or immigration lock-ups, the Thai government should consider allowing the Rohingya to remain, work and live under temporary protection.

HRW urges the Thai government to work closely with the UNHCR, which has the technical expertise to screen for refugee status and the mandate to protect refugees and stateless people. Effective UNHCR screening of all Rohingya boat arrivals would help the Thai government determine who is entitled to refugee status.

Myanmar rejects UN rights envoy’s claim of attack by Buddhist mob, says he was never in danger

Khin Maung Win/Associated Press - U.N. Human Rights envoy to Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana, speaks during a press conference before he departs from Yangon International Airport Wednesday, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013, in Yangon, Myanmar. The U.N. human rights envoy concludes his 11-day visit Wednesday to assess human rights situation in Myanmar.

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By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, August 22, 4:30 PM

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s government on Thursday disputed accusations that it failed to protect a top U.N. human rights envoy who said his vehicle was attacked by a 200-strong Buddhist mob during a visit to a city where religious violence flared earlier this year.

President Thein Sein’s spokesman, Ye Htut, said U.N. rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana was never in any danger during his visit this week.

He said members of the crowd approached Quintana’s convoy in the central city of Meikhtila only to give him a letter and a T-shirt, “so what Quintana said is very different from the true situation.”

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people, has been gripped by sectarian violence in the last year that has left more than 250 people dead and sent another 140,000 fleeing their homes. Most of the victims — including at least 43 from a March attack in Meikhtila — were Muslims.

Quintana’s 10-day visit to Myanmar, which ended Wednesday, was in part aimed at investigating ongoing tensions and the response of the government.
Quintana said his convoy was mobbed Monday night as security forces looked on.
“The fear that I felt during this incident, being totally unprotected by the nearby police, gave me an insight into the fear residents would have felt when being chased down by violent mobs during violence last March ... when police allegedly stood by as angry mobs beat, stabbed and burned to death 43 people,” he said.
Quintana slammed the government for failing to do its job. “The state has failed to protect me,” he said.

Ye Htut had another version of events.

In addition to helping to disperse hundreds of people before Quintana’s arrival — he said 100 were left by the time the convoy arrived — one police car was escorting the U.N. rights envoy and 30 other officers were controlling the crowd, he said.

“Police gave protection to him and people had no intention to hurt him,” Ye Htut said, adding that police successfully cleared a path and the convoy passed without incident.
Myanmar only recently emerged from decades of isolation and military rule. One of the biggest challenges of the new, quasi-civilian government has been the rising anti-Muslim sentiment.

Quintana said his own experience “highlighted for me the dangers of the spread of religious incitement in Myanmar and the deadly environment that this can create.”
“Although the chief minister declared that the trust had been restored, this does not reflect reality,” he said.

The unrest began last year in the western state of Rakhine, where Buddhists accuse the Rohingya Muslim community of illegally entering the country to encroach on their land.
Quintana faced several smaller protests during his visit, most of them peaceful. Almost all were by Buddhists, who feel that the U.N. and other international agencies are ignoring their complaints and tilting relief and reconstruction efforts in favor of the Muslim community.

It was Quintana’s eighth trip to Myanmar since being named U.N. rights rapporteur. He will present his findings to the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 24.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.