Thailand Warns Angelina Jolie Over Comments On Rohingyas

Source from thaivisa, 11 Feb 2009


BANGKOK: -- Thai government is not happy with US actress Angelina Jolie and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees for criticising that Thai government did not respect Rohingya boat people's human rights

Thai Foreign Ministry's Permanent Secretary Virasakdi Futrakul said the Rohingya's presence in Thailand is a hot issue. ""It was a coincidence that the Rohingya was a hot news issue at the time. We must warn UNHCR that they should not comment on the matter because they have no mandate."

The warning came after UNHCR's goodwill ambassador Jolie who visited Burmese camps along Thai border last week criticised Thai government of ignoring the plight of Rohinyas and suggested that Thai government should take better care of the Burmese ethnics.

Virasakdi told reporters that Angelina was not focused on the Rohingya, but was visiting Burmese refugee camps.

"The UNHCR should not have brought Jolie, its goodwill ambassador, to one of the nine refugee camps stringing the border which are run by Thailand's interior ministry."

"The Thai government will issue a reprimand letter to UNHCR, asking why it allowed Angelina Jolie to visit the refugee camps," Virasakdi told reporters.   -- The Nation 2009-02-11


Jolie chastised by Thai government over ‘Myanmar migrants’ comments
Source from buzg.com, 12 Feb 2009

London, Feb 12 (ANI): American actress Angelina Jolie has earned herself the ire of the Thai government after she commented on the plight of Myanmar migrants.
Jolie and Brad Pitt had visited a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border last week, as part of her role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations (U.N.), and the migrants there told her that the Thai military was mistreating them.

Upon hearing their story, Jolie issued an emotive plea to the Thai government urging the authorities to respect the rights of the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar.
In her plea the Tomb Raider star asked the Thai government to be “just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores” as they were to the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp’s, 18,000 other refugees from Myanmar.

The Thai army has been accused of detaining and torturing hundreds of Rohingya who, in recent months, fled to Thailand to escape poverty in Myanmar.

But now Jolie has been reprimanded by Thai officials for her comments, and they have stated that the United Nations refugee agency should not have allowed her to visit the centre.
“Angelina was not focused on the Rohingya, but was visiting Myanmar refugee camps,” the Daily Express quoted Virasakdi Futrakul, permanent secretary of the Thai foreign ministry, as saying.

“It was a coincidence that the Rohingya was a hot news issue at the time, therefore we must warn (U.N. refugee agency) UNHCR that they should not comment on this issue because they have no mandate on this issue.
“The Thai government will issue a reprimand letter to UNHCR asking why it allowed Angelina Jolie to visit the refugee camps,” he added.
A representative for UNHCR claims that the Thai Ministry of Interior issued camp passes for both Jolie and Pitt. (ANI)

Rohingya refugees in Malaysia protest Thai actions against boat people

 

Source from channel news asia, 12 Feb 2009

 

KUALA LUMPUR : Rohingya refugees in Malaysia held two protests in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to highlight the plight of their compatriots.

Less than 100 of them turned up at the Thai Embassy to protest against the alleged abuse of Rohingya boat people seeking refuge in Thailand.

They forwarded a memo to embassy staff in which they "condemned Thailand's atrocious human rights record".

On the alleged mistreatment of the boat people by the Thai military, they called for the issue to be brought before the International Court of Justice.

The group then moved on to the Bangladesh Embassy, where they protested the mistreatment of Rohingya refugees detained in Bangladesh.

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape persecution in Myanmar. But they receive little or no support from the Bangladeshi government. - CNA /ls

..........some photos of one of the protest in relation to boat people added by BRAT..............

...........Burmese people protest at Bangladesh embassy, KL

.............Burmese protest at Burmese emabssy, KL

......................memo handing over to a senior staff from Burmese emabssy, KL

...................Burmese protest at Thai emabssy, KL

 

....................memo handing over to a senior staff from Thai-embassy in KL

 

Myanmar Envoy Brands Rohingya "Ugly As Ogres"

Source AFP, 10 Feb 2009

HONG KONG (AFP)-- Myanmar's senior official in Hong Kong has described the Rohingya boatpeople as "ugly as ogres," as a high-profile refugee case has highlighted the group's plight, a report said Wednesday.

The country's Consul General Ye Myint Aung wrote to heads of foreign missions in Hong Kong and local newspapers insisting the Muslim tribe should not be described as being from Myanmar, the South China Morning Post reported.

"In reality, Rohingya are neither Myanmar people nor Myanmar's ethnic group," he said.

The envoy contrasted the "dark brown" Rohingya complexion with the "fair and soft" skin of people from Myanmar, according to the Post.

"It is quite different from what you have seen and read in the papers.

(They are as ugly as ogres)," Ye Myint Aung was said to have written. It is not immediately clear why the phrase was in brackets in the original letter.

The Rohingya are stateless and face religious and ethnic persecution from Myanmar's military regime, forcing thousands to take to rickety boats each year in a bid to escape poverty and oppression, rights groups say.

But Myanmar's junta denies the existence of the Rohingya as an ethnic group in the mainly Buddhist country and says the migrants are Bangladeshis.

Thailand's military was accused in January of towing hundreds of Rohingya out to sea in poorly equipped boats with scant food and water after they tried to flee Myanmar, a charge Thailand has "categorically denied."

The accusations surfaced after nearly 650 Rohingya were rescued off India and Indonesia, some saying they had been beaten by Thai soldiers.

Hundreds of the boat people are still believed to be missing at sea.

The case has raised the profile of the group's struggle, prompting Ye Myint Aung's letter, the Post said.

No one from Myanmar's Hong Kong consulate was immediately available to comment when contacted.

.........................

Pl see the letter attached by BRAT

 

Over 90 organisations worldwide call for Rohingya and Bangladeshi protection

Statement on the treatment of Rohingya and Bangladeshi ‘Boat People’ in Asia - February 6, 2009
Source from asi-pacific-solidarity.net,
 
We, the undersigned organizations, are extremely concerned about the treatment of over a thousand Rohingyas from Burma and migrants from Bangladesh who have been forcibly expelled and abandoned in international waters by the Thai security forces since December 2008.
 
Over the past few weeks, several boats have been rescued off the coasts of Indonesia and the Andaman Islands of India. Survivors tell of having been detained in Thailand, beaten, and towed out to sea on boats without engines or sufficient food and water. Several hundred remain missing and are feared dead.We are also concerned about the fate, including possible refoulement, of the Rohingya who remain in detention in Thailand, Indonesia and India. If Rohingyas are returned to Burma they could face widespread human rights violations, including forced labour, forced eviction, land confiscation and severe restrictions on freedom of movement. Refoulement of such individuals is prohibited under customary international law.
Background
Over the past two years, the number of people leaving Bangladesh and Burma by boat for Southeast Asia has grown. They have fled in search of protection, safety and/or work. Most are Rohingyas, a Muslim minority from western Burma.
The Rohingya have been rendered stateless in Burma and have experienced systematic discrimination, exclusion, and human rights violations in Burma for decades, prompting hundreds of thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, most notably Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand. Most are without legal status and are vulnerable to arrest, imprisonment, detention and deportation.
Aside from the Rohingya, millions of ethnic minorities and political activists have fled Burma, fearing persecution, violence and human rights abuses.
Specific Concerns
We are concerned by the following reports about the Rohingya:

• The ill-treatment and failure to provide adequate assistance to hundreds who were arrested and detained in Thailand. Since December 2008, those captured at sea by the Thai Navy were directly transferred to the custody of the Thai Army at Koh Sai Daeng. Despite their weak condition, they were not provided with adequate food, were forced to sleep outside under armed guard, and were subject to ill-treatment such as kicking and beatings with a stick. They were then forced to board boats that were not seaworthy, were given inadequate provisions, and then towed out to sea and abandoned.
• Those who initially refused to board the vessel were threatened at gunpoint. Four men were thrown overboard with their hands tied.
• Hundreds, perhaps thousands, remain missing, including children.
• Thailand and Indonesia have announced their intention to deport the Rohingya in their custody.

We recognize that:

• The Indonesian and Indian Governments have conducted rescue at sea operations, providing relief and medical attention to rescued Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.
• On 26 January 2009, the Thai Government transferred 78 new arrivals to Police and Immigration authorities rather than the Army.
• The Thai Government has indicated that it will postpone the deportation of the 78 Rohingya arrivals until further investigation of their injuries. The Thai Government has also called for a regional solution to the plight of Rohingya.

Recommendations

Given the gravity of situation, we recommend that:
The Burmese Government:

• End the systematic persecution of the Rohingya ethnic minority and recognise them as citizens with full rights and protection.

The Thai Government:

• Cease forcibly expelling the Rohingyas, which is in violation of international law. Investigate serious allegations of mistreatment by the Thai security forces which may be in serious violation of Thailand’s obligations under the 1984 the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and bring to justice those responsible.
• Ensure that detainees have access to humanitarian assistance, protection and independent legal counsel by relevant international and local agencies. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees) should have access to all detainees to ensure fair determination of their status.
• Facilitate an open and independent inquiry by the Thai National Human Rights Commission and/or an international body into the allegations of human rights violations, providing them with full access to survivors and detainees, relevant government and army officials, and records related to the events.

The Indonesian and Indian Governments:

• Respect the principle of non-refoulement in relation to those rescued at sea and currently being detained.
• Ensure that detainees have access to humanitarian assistance, protection and independent legal counsel by relevant international and local agencies. UNHCR should have access to all detainees to ensure fair determination of their status.

The Bangladeshi Government:

• Uphold its international obligations as a country of first asylum to ensure the protection and assistance of Rohingya with the support of the international community.

The members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Bay of Bengal Multi-Sectoral Initiative for Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC):

• Launch immediate search and rescue operations for the remaining boats pushed back into international waters, as well as other boats of migrants reported to have left Bangladesh.
• Work with the UNHCR, the international community and civil society groups to find equitable regional solutions that meet the protection needs of those forced to leave Burma, with responsibility-sharing arrangements regionally and internationally.
• Urge the Burmese Government to stop the systematic persecution of the Rohingya minority, which is the root cause of their flight to neighbouring countries.
• Meet their obligations as state parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR).
• Urge all members to ratify the 1951 Convention Related to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1990 International Convention for the Protection of the Right of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

The United Nations and the International Community:

• Continue to support the governments of Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and its neighbours to find a durable solution to the protection needs of Burmese refugees throughout the region, ensuring consultation with civil society.
• Engage the Burmese Government to solve the ongoing human rights crisis there, including amending the 1982 Citizenship Law which renders the Rohingya stateless.
• Ensure that urgent humanitarian assistance is provided to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis who have fled on boats.
• Ensure that human rights complaints related to the treatment of these people are thoroughly investigated and reported to the Human Rights Council

This statement was written by members of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), and has been endorsed by the following organizations and individuals:

Australia

1. A Just Australia
2. Act for Peace, National Council of Churches Australia (NCCA)
3. Austcare
4. Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA)
5. Children Out of Detention (ChilOut)
6. Dr Savitri Taylor, School of Law, La Trobe University
7. Rosie Scott, International Detention Coalition
8. The Association of Survivors of Torture and Trauma (ASeTTS)
9. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
10. The Ethnic Communities Council of WA and the Multicultural Services Centre of WA
11. The Refugee Council of Australia
12. The South Australian Refugee Health Network
13. The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture
14. Union Aid Abroad APHEDA
15. West Coast Refugee Sanctuary Group Inc.
16. Westgate Baptist Community

Bangladesh

17. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)
18. Empowerment through Law of the Common People (ELCOP)
19. IMA Research Foundation
20. Odhikar

Burma

21. Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO)
22. Shan Women’s Action Network

Egypt

23. The Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights

Hong Kong

24. Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre

India

25. Centre for Development and Human Rights

Indonesia

26. Human Rights Working Group
27. Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)

Kenya

28. David Dickson, Solidarity House International

Korea

29. Korea Women’s Hotline
30. Korean Public Interest Lawyers Group (GONGGAM)
31. The Refugee Pnan

Lebanon

32. Frontiers Ruwad Association

Malaysia

33. All Women’s Action Society
34. Amnesty International Malaysia
35. Borneo Child Aid Society/Humana
36. Building and Wood Workers International (BWI)
37. Center for Orang Asli Concerns
38. Civil Rights Committee of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
39. Coalition of Burma Ethnic Groups in Malaysia (COBEM)
40. Community Residents Association of Selangor and Federal Territory (PERMAS)
41. Council of Churches of Malaysia
42. Health Equity Initiatives (HEI)
43. Empower (Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor)
44. Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (JERIT)
45. Justice, Peace and Solidarity In Mission, The Good Shepherd Sisters
46. Kumpulan ACTS
47. Malaysia Youth and Student Democratic Movement (DEMA)
48. Organization of Karenni Development (OKD)
49. Pusat Jagaan Kanak Kanak NurSalam, Chow Kit
50. Pusat Komas (Community Communication Centre)
51. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
52. Tenaganita (Women’s Force)
53. The National Human Rights Society (HAKAM)
54. Women’s Aid Organisation
55. Workers Organisation

Mongolia

56. National Center Against Violence

Nepal

57. All Nepal Women’s Association
58. INHURED International

Pakistan

59. ESCR-Asia
60. Pakistan International Human Rights Organization (PIHRO)

Philippines

61. Center for Migrant Advocacy
62. Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA)
63. The Pax _Romana-International Movement of Catholic Students
64. Virgilio “Boy” Hernandez

Singapore

65. Singapore Working Group for Asean Human Rights Mechanism (MARUAH)
66. UNI Apro

South Africa

67. Lawyers for Human Rights

Sri Lanka

68. Andrew Samuel, Community Development Services, Colombo
69. Commission for Justice and Peace (CJP) of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka
70. South Asian Network for Refugees, IDPs & Migrants (SANRIM)

Thailand

71. Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma
72. Arakan Project
73. Mekong Ecumenical Partnership Program, Christian Conference of Asia
74. Serge Auguste, Maryknoll
75. Shining Som Mekong Alumni Network
76. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)

United Kingdom

77. Forest Peoples Programme
78. The Equal Rights Trust

United States

79. Asylum Access (US/Thailand)
80. Church World Service, Immigration and Refugee Program
81. Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
82. Refugees International
83. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)

Zambia

84. Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice (Africa IDP Voice)
Regional/International
85. Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD)
86. Asian Solidarity for Peoples’ Advocacy (SAPA)
87. Christian Conference of Asia
88. Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM Asia)
89. Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
90. International Detention Coalition
91. Nonviolence International Southeast Asia (NISEA)
92. The Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples
93. The Asian Human Rights Commissionl

United States Says United Nations Should Screen Rohingya Migrants

Source from US Policy, 03 Feb 2009

United States has resettled some Rohingya referred by U.N. agency.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — The Obama administration says countries to which Burmese Rohingya migrants have fled should carefully screen them — with the involvement of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — to determine if they need protection.

The United States considers the Muslim Rohingya people, who live mainly in the Burmese state of Northern Rakhine, to be a religious and ethnic minority that is being persecuted by the country’s military regime.
Burma does not recognize them as citizens, despite their centuries-long presence in the country. The junta also has placed severe economic, travel and other restrictions on the community and forcibly converted some to Buddhism. (See “Burma’s Muslims Are Long-standing Victims of Military Regime.”)

Agence France Presse (AFP) reported February 3 that Indonesian fishermen had found a group of nearly 200 Rohingya men adrift off the northern tip of Sumatra weeks after the men attempted to flee to Thailand in makeshift boats. The survivors told AFP they had been detained and beaten by Thai military personnel before being sent back to sea on boats without motors or adequate food and water supplies.
An additional 650 Rohingya were found in Indonesian and Indian territorial waters in January, AFP said, and nearly 1,000 Rohingya attempted to flee by sea to Thailand in 2008.

Laura Tischler, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, told America.gov February 3 that a small number of Rohingya who had been referred by UNHCR had been accepted by the United States for resettlement. The Obama administration also will “consider additional referrals … on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Along with urging countries to work with UNHCR to determine who needs protection, the United States called on Burma’s neighbors to “press the government of Burma to end its persecution of Rohingya,” so that “those who have already fled can return home safely,” Tischler said.
She added that the Obama administration welcomes efforts by other concerned governments to work together on a common approach for protecting Rohingya people.

BRAT Statement on 61st Independent Day

On behalf of BRAT, would like to celebrate the 61^st   Independent day of the Union of Burma with depress and distress.

It was in 4^th January 1948, Burma the named of gotten Independent from Britain with a lot of misery and sacrifices of not only Burmans but also all racial people living in Burma. But it was only a transition the power from imperialism to a purified, Burmanized Buddhism, where not only gave the birth of racial, religious riots but also created the system of hatred policy as well as dominated on minorities by majorities without their (minorities) will, especially on our Rohingya people, who have been rightly called the worst victims of Burmese government’s crimes against humanity.

 Now 61 years later when we are going to count what we have got and lost, it can be seen clearly that the Military’s misrule brings misery for the Burmese people, so, many of the ethnic leaders are realizing that, these Burmans are betrayed to them (minorities) and it continuing till today on all racial including Rohingya, minority,. It is questionable that, either, of the country ruler, regime or the so-called exiled democratic leaders who are crying out and using the word of democracy restorers are not much different, where they both (exiled leaders and regime) are violating and showing disrespect of the minority’s rights. Additionally, the so-called Burmese democracy leaders within the Burmese dissidents have been denying the Rohingya issue, esp. the impact of the 1982 Citizenship Act, which has effectively forced them to as "stateless" people of Burma. A richest country in the Asia in 1958 survey, dragged to a poorest country in the world now, in spite of its gem stone, timber, oil and gas reserves, people have not got any benefit from this massive of wealth except the regime.

This is the time to consider, that the people of Burma wanted, in stead of bewildering to understand any request from the people of Burma by the worst regime. Subsequently, we all democratic forces have to change the discriminating policy and take step to work with purified heart for the sake of all racial with equal.  Unilaterally, we will work much harder than we are doing now and providing opportunity of accommodating to all racial activists in equal to play the role of politics to change militarization to democratization including those of Rohingya.

BRAT Information Desk

Thailand's Crackdown on Burmese as Arrest Numbers Grow

Source from Phuket Wan, 11 April 2008

 

ALMOST as many illegal Burmese have been arrested on Phuket and trucked back to the border so far this year as in the whole of last year.

Construction worker Too Nu on Phuket with his worker ID

Photo by Big Island Media

Figures from Phuket Immigration list 2923 arrested Burmese so far this year, including 107 who were trucked off the island on April 9. The breakdown is January 798, February 1093, March 824 and 208 so far in April.

 

The total compares with 3622 for the whole of 2007, when the highest individual month was March with 560 arrests.

The Superintendent of Phuket Immigration, Police Colonel Chanatpol Yongbunjerd, told Phuketwan that the illegal problem had become greater this year.

''I am asking police in Patong, Chalong and Phuket City for help,'' he said. A comprehensive crackdown on illegal Burmese is planned after Songkran, from April 21 to 25.

The number of Burmese being arrested this year is placing pressure on the Immigration jail facilities, which are not built to hold large numbers of people for more than a few hours.

The deaths of more than 50 Burmese in a container on the back of a truck near Ranong on April 9 indicate more people may try to come by land rather than risk travelling by boat in monsoon weather.

It's a simple ID card, about the same size and shape as most driving licences. A permit to work in Thailand.

Hardly worth your life.

Yet increasing numbers of Burmese seem prepared to risk death to cross the border, where they can expect to find work doing menial labor.

Construction sites, fishing trawlers, plantations, home-help: the Burmese do all the lowly-paid jobs that Thais are sometimes reluctant to do, at least in sufficient numbers.

It's said the resorts along the Andaman Sea that were flattened by the 2004 tsunami have mostly been rebuilt on the backs of Burmese.

Burmese are now coming in such numbers that cross-border migration has become an issue of national security, with the Thai Navy exploring a top-level suggestion that an island detention centre would become a suitable deterrent.

The wealthy tourists who flock to Phuket in growing numbers drive past shanty towns composed of corrugated iron shacks where Burmese laborers live in primitive conditions under an 8pm curfew.

They are forbidden to own mobile telephones or motorcycles, blamed for almost every crime on the island, and suspected of spreading tuberculosis and HIV.

Phuket's foremost heroines, immortalised in one large statue on the main road from the airport, are a pair of sisters who helped to beat off a Burmese invasion of the island in 1785.

Ever since, it seems, the Burmese have been trying to creep back.

The Chief of Phuket's Employment Office, Nataya Anudit, told Phuketwan that 35,116 Burmese have the precious ID cards and at least 20,000 more work illegally on the island.

''Construction companies are always looking for more workers,'' she said. ''If they cannot get them legally, they usually find them illegally.''

The problem is mirrored in other provinces along the coast but Phuket, with its heady mix of wealthy tourists and a booming economy, is where the Burmese want to be most.

More are dying for the opportunity. It is the sudden increase in the arrivals of the Rohingya, a Burmese minority Muslim group, that has now caused a headache for the Thai military.

A boatload of about 80 recently arrived on Koh Kor Kao, an island not far north of Phuket.

They were reported to local authorities by anxious villagers, and told immigration officials that there had been deaths onboard on their 11-day voyage south.

Like all Burmese caught illegally along the Andaman coast, the Rohingya were trucked straight back to the border, where they will be refused entry because Burma does not usually allow illegals to return.

There are fears that unless an example is made, Burmese Muslims could link up with the southern Muslims who are being blamed for the deadly separatist unrest in Thailand's deep south provinces.

Those Burmese who do find legal jobs, like Too Nu, who works on a site in Phuket City, benefit from the minimum wage of 193 baht, which is about four times what laborers are paid in Burma, if they can find work.

Too Nu, 24, came legally nine years ago.

Another Burmese, a woman who came to Phuket illegally, told of having to pay police bribes to get into the country.

She now has a legal job as a housemaid, assisted in making her position legal by a helpful employer. Burmese who do win the right to work often prosper on Phuket.

But many others are arrested and trucked back to the border.

Laurence Gray, regional advocacy director, World Vision Asia Pacific, confirms that extortion is likely among vulnerable groups such as the Burmese in Thailand.

''Illegal migrants will often be made to work long hours or not paid wages at all,'' he said.

A World Vision survey of almost 1200 Burmese involved in so-called ''blind migration,'' the phrase for when people crossed a border without a job to go to, indicated about one in 10 were led into prostitution.

Horror of Human Trade: 54 Burmeses Die in Phuket Bound Container

Source from Phuket Wan, 10 April 2008

 

The container was found open on the parked truck on the main road leading to Phuket, where the dead and 67 others who survived the ordeal hoped to start a new life.

 

The death toll includes 37 women and 17 men.

Nine of the survivors are being treated in the local Suksomlan Hospital. Another has been taken to Ranong Hospital.

Head of Suksomlan police station in Ranong, Phuwanai Wattasamai, told Phuketwan that the people in the container were being smuggled to the holiday island by road.

When the grisly cargo was discovered on Wednesday evening, police called a doctor who helped some suffering survivors and diagnosed that the dead victims had suffocated in the container.

Survivors were rounded up and most are now being held in cells in Ranong. The container was usually used for refrigerating fish.

The incident highlights the role of ''snakeheads,'' people traffickers currently said to be cashing in on the large number of Burmese seeking to leave the country.

Witnai Jurai, a police officer based in Ranong, told Phuketwan that the container filled with people had been carried to Ranong, on the Thai side of the border, by ferry from Victoria Point, the Burmese town across the mouth of the river.

''They mostly came from Motama, near Yangon in Burma, to Victoria Point,'' he said. ''Others joined them in Victoria Point.

''The driver of the truck picked the container up on the Ranong side. Soon after, he stopped the truck and opened the back to check on his cargo.

''When he saw what had happened inside, he ran away. Local people called the police.''

The driver, a Thai, has yet to be found.

One group of Burmese, the Rohingya, who are Muslims, have been fleeing south to Ranong, Phang Nga and Phuket in such large numbers that the Prime Minister recently supported a plan to create an island detention centre in the Andaman Sea as a deterrent to others.

The Third Navy, based on Phuket and Phang Nga, has identified several islands that would be suitable for such a centre.

The deaths in the containers are likely to throw the international media spotlight onto the issue of Burmese refugees seeking a better life in Thailand, especially in the Phuket and Phang Nga construction industries.

Some Burmese have legal status but the numbers are never sufficient for the large amount of new building, especially of tourist resorts as the region fully recovers from the 2004 tsunami.

The dead victims from the container were taken to a charity foundation. They will probably have paupers' burials, the fate of Buddhists who cannot afford cremation at a temple.

The newsagency AFP reports that the migrants were supposed to pay a Thai smuggling ring 6000 baht ($US200) each to transport them from the border to Phuket, about four-hours' drive south.

Once there, they hoped to find work as day labourers.

We’ll Put Rohingya on Desert Island: Thai PM

Source from Irrawaddy news, 1 April 2008

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej last week said Thailand would place Rohingya refugees on a deserted island, according to the Bangkok Post.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority indigenous to northern Arakan State in western Burma. Descended from 7th century Arab traders, the estimated 3 million Rohingya have suffered a history of persecution in Burma and many have fled to Bangladesh as refugees due to land confiscation and to escape human rights abuses such as murder, rape, army brutality and forced labor. Many are now seeking new lives in Thailand.

A group of Rohingya, who had starved or dehydrated to death after their wooden trawler stalled at sea, was found by Sri Lankan navy on early March. (Photo: Reuters)

A group of Rohingya, who had starved or dehydrated to death after their wooden trawler stalled at sea, was found by Sri Lankan navy on early March. (Photo: Reuters)

''To stop the influx, we have to keep them in a tough place,” Samak was quoted as saying by the English-language Thai daily newspaper on Saturday. “Those who are about to follow will have to know life here will be difficult [so] they won't sneak in.”

The Thai premier made the statement after emerging from a two-hour meeting of the National Security Council last week, saying that the navy is exploring a deserted island to place the Rohingya refugees living in Thailand.

Samak also suggested that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should step in and provide financial support to the Thai government which had shouldered the Rohingya burden for quite some time.

The plight of Burma’s Rohingya has long been one of the worst stains on Burma’s deplorable human rights record.

In 1991, waves of Rohingya refugees fled across Burma’s western border to Bangladesh to escape oppression. Despite efforts by the UN to repatriate them under an agreement between Bangladesh and Burma, many Rohingya refugees have remained in Bangladesh.

Since early 1990s, the Rohingya have traveled by land and sea into Malaysia and southern Thailand where they hope to find understanding from people of the same faith—Sunni Muslim.
Last week the Thai army's Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niampradit told reporters after a meeting with governors of 31 border provinces that an alarming rate of Rohingya have been sneaking into Thailand. He did not give the exact number of Rohingya in Thailand.

The influx of Rohingya has brought unwelcome attention from Thai authorities, nervous of any incidents at a time of heightened fears of terrorist activity in southern Thailand.

However, there is no evidence that any Rohingya have been linked with the unrest in southern Thailand.

Rohingya issue raised in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand : The issue of Rohingyas living for a long time in Thailand was raised by the Thai National Human Rights Commission in a seminar held in Thailand on November15-16.

Bangkok, Thailand : The issue of Rohingyas living for a long time in Thailand was raised by the Thai National Human Rights Commission in a seminar held in Thailand on November15-16.

Dr. Khunying Amphon Meesuj presented a keynote address on Rohingyas living in Thailand in the seminar.

Enayet Ullah, the executive member of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) spoke in the meeting about the BRAT activity in Thailand.

The discussion on Rohingya was held in the office of the Thai National Human Rights Commission, Meeting Room No. 501. The meeting was attended by professors from various universities of Thailand, Thai immigration officials, the Thai police, experts on migrant workers in Thailand from Burma, Thai National Security Council, students from different universities in Thailand, members of the International Jurist Committee, members of the stateless watch, Dr. San Aung, the Thai based National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, or NCGUB and members of BRAT.

At the meeting BRAT members went into the situation of Rohingyas in Thailand and the problem they face in their country of origin in Burma and abroad including Thailand .

BRAT urged the Thai authorities to provide temporary shelter to refugees of the Rohingya community in Thailand otherwise their cases should be handed over to the UNHCR.

After the meeting, the Thai National Human Rights Commission will include the findings on the condition of Rohingyas in their annual report to the Thai Interior Ministry and UNHCR.

The participants at the meeting decided to meet again on the issue in March 2008, under the supervision of the Thai National Human Rights Commission, Dr. Aapron said.

Source from bnionline, 19 November 2007  

 

The Situation of Rohingya in Thailand

Source from Kaladan Press,  20 July 2007

At first I would like to express my Salam and sincere thanks to all participants including Br. Nurul Islam, Director of National Reconciliation Program (NRP) and Euro- Burma Office Mr. Ham Yawnghwe, the respected Rohingya elder Mr. Abul Fayas and Honourable Professor Surat for organizing this workshop. I feel honoured today  for this opportunity to attend this meeting and make my presentation on the situation ofRohingya living in Thailand.

Some of the distinguished speakers have already spoken on the situation ofRohingya people in many countries of the world. Due to human rights violations against them bulk of the Rohingyas have to leave their homeland to save their lives. The situation has been serious after the enactment of so called Burma Citizenship law in 1982 by dictator Ne Win making the Rohingya stateless in their historical homeland. There are about 10 to 15,000 Rohingyas living in Thailand without any kind of legal status with uncertain future.

Generally their situation is as follows:

1. There  are  some  Rohingyas  in  the  refugee  camp  near  Thai  Burma border  in Measod area. Their condition is relatively better in terms of security.
2. Some of the Rohingyas are living by trading particularly in Maesod town, Bangkok and Ranong.
3. A few Rohingyas are working as daily labourers  in Bangkok and other big cities. Of them some are working in the factory as security guards.
4. A small number of them are surviving by selling flowers on the road sites of the big cities or at the traffic signal points which is usually very dangerous.
5. A small number of our people are doing street vendors. The security agencies seldom arrest and deport them. Recently the Royal Thai Police had handed over a group of such people to the SPDC forces.
6. There are still some people who are working as daily labourers in fisheries, particularly in Ranong.

Some of the problems being faced by the Rohingyas in Thailand

They face the arrests and deportation of the Thai police. Sometimes, they face humiliation from the local people. Some Thai people think that, being people from Burma, we are their historical enemy. They used to point out the times of Burmese king Boying Nong (Boren Nong) and Along Paya who had once occupied their country (Thailand). Having no documents, we are unable to travel within Thailand and to send our children to Thai schools even for basic education. These problems need to be addressed as early as possible.

In this horrific situation we have established the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) to alleviate the sufferings of Rohingya in Thailand. Amidst various difficulties BRAT is carrying on its activities. BRAT maintains keep in touch with many organizations and individuals, including Thai National Human Rights Commission. With the help of TNHRC, we could present and discuss our problems with Thai Interior Ministry, UNHCR, Law Faculty of Thammasart University and many others –

For your information the Aims and Objects of the BRAT are:

1. To create mutual understanding with Thai societies and other ethnic groups from Burma.
2. To establish the  Rohingya's  rights  in their homeland and to work for the protection of those who are taking refuge in foreign countries like Thailand.
3. To strengthen the national reconciliation process among all the peoples of Burma, including those in Arakan.
4. To create an effective network among the Rohingya community to help in peaceful co-existence program.
5. To strengthen Burma's democracy movement to establish peace, justice, and equality in the country.

BRAT'S weakness:

1. Lack of educated people in the organization.
2. Financial problem to run the network.
3. Lack of documents to travel across Thailand to carry on the activities.

Again I draw your attention to redress our plights, particularly to the problem of legal status for our temporary stay in Thailand, and for our children's education. We are also soliciting your help and cooperation in our activities

Thank you very much.

This paper was submitted at First Rohingya Consultation: Working together to find a solution, on 2-3 August 2006, Sigha Dum Conference Room, Faculty of Political science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, Organized by Centre for Social Development, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, In cooperation with the National Reconciliation Programme (NRP).

Rohingya Refugees from Burma Mistreated in Bangladesh, Thailand Also Forcing Asylum Seekers Back into Burma

 Source from HRW, 28 March 2007

 

(New York) - Rohingya refugees from Burma living in Bangladesh face an increased risk of mistreatment and are being denied access to necessary humanitarian aid by the Bangladeshi authorities, endangering thousands of civilians and compelling many to seek refuge in nearby countries, Human Rights Watch said today.
“The Bangladeshi government is ignoring its obligations to protect Rohingya refugees and permit international relief agencies to assist with the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This shameful situation has dragged on for many years and is now causing secondary migration flows to countries as far away as Thailand and Malaysia.”

In early March Bangladeshi authorities destroyed a large part of a refugee settlement called “Tal” which housed over 6,000 Rohingya refugees from Burma at Teknaf, south of Cox’s Bazaar, close to the border with Burma. No alternative shelter was provided for the people being displaced.

Refugees in this makeshift camp had been living in a small piece of land close to a main road with limited access to food, social services and international assistance since October 2004, when Bangladeshi authorities had evicted them from rented homes because they classified them as undocumented people from Burma instead of refugees. Bangladeshi authorities shifted part of the “Tal” camp to extend the nearby highway. Large numbers of homes have been destroyed and there is a critical lack of basic services.
Abuses by Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies are reported to be widespread in and around Rohingya refugee camps, including reports of sexual violence against women. In the two official refugee camps of Nayapara and Kutupalong, people are routinely punished for traveling outside the camp to find food or money and often must resort to selling meager rations to corrupt camp officials or outside merchants. Authorities refuse to permit permanent structures to be built in the camps as a way of encouraging refugees to return home. Children are denied access to education. The provision of health services and access to medicines is also limited by the authorities, as are work and livelihood opportunities inside the camp.
Bangladeshi authorities are also limiting access of Rohingya refugees to international aid. Aid groups such as UNHCR and MSF are only permitted to retain low staff levels and limited programs, and are regularly frustrated by local Bangladeshi authorities from instituting projects that make the camps more established and provide regular services.

“The Bangladeshi government should be helping needy refugees instead of making life difficult for them,” said Adams. “It should work with international humanitarian agencies to create safe spaces and basic services for people fleeing persecution in Burma. This is just basic decency.”

Since October 2006, more than 2,000 Rohingyas from Bangladesh and Burma have arrived in nearly 40 fishing boats in southern Thailand, many reportedly trying to make their way to Malaysia. These Rohingya refugees and migrants have been shifted by the Thai authorities from Phang Nga and Ranong provinces in southern Thailand to Mae Sot in Tak province, and then forced into Burma, where they are subject to detention and ill-treatment. On March 10, 67 Rohingya men were forced back into Burma by the Thai military to an area controlled by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a pro-Burmese government armed group. Most of the men have since returned to Thailand. On March 23, Thai authorities arrested another 56 Rohingya men around Mae Sot and deported them to the same DKBA area on March 24.
Under the 1951 Refugees Convention, this constitutes “refoulement,” as the men were forcibly returned to a territory from which they had “a well founded fear of persecution” and to which their return would constitute a threat to their lives and freedom.
Some of the deported men have since returned to Thailand. Human Rights Watch has grave concerns for their safety as they are undocumented and without access to basic services from international relief agencies, and subject to arrest by local Thai security officers. Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to allow UNHCR to access detainees and returned men to determine their status and whether they are eligible for refugee protection in Thailand.

There are currently an estimated 10,000 Rohingya refugees registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia. Thousands more are living as unregistered migrant laborers. Many are abused and exploited by unsavory employers, officials in the Immigration Department, the police and other Malaysian authorities. Much of this migration is facilitated by organized criminal networks and trafficking groups, which further endangers people traveling to other countries.

“The Rohingya have been caught between a hammer and anvil for over a decade in desperate circumstance, with Bangladesh making it difficult for them to seek refuge and Burma continuing to abuse the rights of the Muslim minority in Arakan State,” Adams said. “These abuses have forced thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighboring countries to seek refuge.”

There are an estimated 26,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh living in two desperate and squalid camps at Cox’s Bazaar, called Kutupalong and Nayapara, but there are also an estimated 100,000 unregistered Rohingya living in Bangladesh near the border with Burma.

Over 250,000 Rohingya Muslims from western Burma were forced into Bangladesh by the Burmese military in 1992 in a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Arakan State. Since then thousands of people have been detained in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh and tens of thousands have been repatriated to Burma to face further repression. There are widespread allegations of religious persecution, use of forced labor and denial of citizenship of many Rohingya forced to return to Burma since 1996.

Many have fled again to Bangladesh to seek work or shelter, or flee from Burmese military oppression, and some are forced across the border by Burmese security forces. In the past few months, abuses against Rohingya in Arakan State has continued, including strict registration laws that continue to deny Rohingya citizenship, restrictions on movement, land confiscation and forced evictions to make way for Buddhist Burmese settlements, widespread forced labor in infrastructure projects and closure of some mosques, including nine in North Buthidaung Township of Western Arakan State in the last half of 2006.

Burmese Rohingyas in Thailand celebrate 2nd foundation day

Source from Kaladan Press,  28 November 2006

Bangkok, Thailand: The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) celebrated its 2nd foundation day at the 14 October Memorial Monument on Rajadamnoen Avenue, Bangkok, on August 20, according to a press release.

The Rohingyas and Thai groups, with the support of FORUM-ASIA, organised a commemorative seminar to mark the 2nd foundation day of BRAT and pointed out that the Rohingyas are an indigenous race, one of two major communities living in Arakan State in western Burma for centuries. 

The statement said that the seminar was to lend voice to the problems of Burmese Rohingyas in Thailand and assist them in resolving their problems. Assistant Professor Jaran Ditapichai (National Human Rights Commissioner), Mr. Mana Ngamnet (an expert on stateless persons), Mr Sarawut Sriwannayos (Islamic Council of Thailand), and Mr Somchai Yensri (People Media Foundation) were among the speakers at the seminar. 

The Burmese Rohingyas have been fighting and supporting the struggle for democracy in Burma since the struggle for independence with General Aung San and during the “8888” people’s movement, till now. They are fighting against the Burmese military junta along with the ethnic groups of Burma, the statement added. 

The statement also said that the representatives of the Rohingyas had contested the 1990 general elections and won four seats. 

The BRAT statement also declared that Burmese Rohingyas have entered Thailand illegally because of the political conflict in Burma as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees, and migrant workers and are now facing many problems like legal status, education for children and their security in Thailand. 

According to Mr Mana Ngamnet Rohingyas are denied citizenship in Burma by the ruling Burmese military junta. So, Rohingyas have become stateless. For stateless persons the Thai government has a policy to conduct a survey for their housing requirement. Those living in Thailand since 18 January 1995 will have a chance to be surveyed and given legal status in Thailand for a certain period. Their identification cards will start with the numbers “00”, according to the statement.   

Chittagong a Part of Rohang (Arakan)

Source from http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=71315

Monday November 14 2005 13:11:56 PM BDT

It is really dramatic that the Chittagong has fallen under the part of bagnaldesh which was always a part of Rohang (Arakan) for centuries.

Though it under the rule of Bangladesh; not under the rule of Bengal as Bengal covers the area unto Calcutta, a part of India. But, the impression over the people of Chittagong (ancient Islamabad) or Chatia has become to be Bengali under the policy of Bengalization, folding the people of Chittagong into one with other parts of Bangladesh.

Vast majority people of Chittagong are the Roi or Rohingya whgo were never ruled by Bengal and thus a small numbers of Chati or Chittagonian people has go down under the domination of Rohingya. They used to communicate in Rohingya dialect among each other, which is presently known as Chittagongian dialect.

History is evidence that the Rohang (Arakan) kingdom was the most familiar at all over the world from which the rule of peaceful co-existence was practiced there. The Rohingya are peace-loving, they have been living together with Rakhaing (locally known as Magh) and other nationalities of the Rohang (Arakan) and ruled the land for centuries.

But, some Rakhaing people do not want to accept or acknowledge the realistic history with their racism and communalism that harm on the humanity. They don’t want to be identified as Magh that may prove their origin of being from Magadah (Bihar) State of India and their lawlessness for whom a familiar saying is present as “Magher Mulluk” (country of lawlessness) that indicates to Rakhaing people directly.

As a result, the then influential Rakhaing leader Ngathandi appealed to the then Burman King Bodapaya to occupy the Arakan and to be the King of that land, which was succeeded in 1784 but he gained to be the Governor only. Later, the entire people of Arakan have fallen into the suffering of their miseries, which has been still existed unto present day.

The Burmese colonialist and Rakhaing communalist and racist have taken initiative to divert the name of Rohang and to divide the state into two parts. During that time, the British Empire occupied the India up to Burma’s east border and when the British Empire was awarding independent to the people, these in-humanists approached to them to apart the Arakan based on religious majority which was also a policy of the British Empire. So that, the Arakan fall into two parts such like apart in Burma and the other in Pakistan, likewise, the Bengal in Pakistan and in India, Kashmir in India and Pakistan, Panjab in Pakistan and India, Afganistan in Pakistan and Soviet Russia etc.

However, the origin and reality are undeniable and the issue shall arise in a day, when the people get free from colinialization and fall under the history of sufferings. As an example, today, the Rohingyas are the sufferers of the Stateless, though their land Arakan ancient name “Rohang” is being exist in both Burma and Bangladesh. They are neither accepted by Burma nor Bangladesh. Burma accuses of being Bangladeshis or Bengalis and Bangladesh accuses of being Burmese. They are neither Bengalis or Bangladeshis nor Burmese in the present days but they are “Rohingya” the people of Rohang or “Arakanese” the people of Arakan. They have their distinct identity in culture, religion, history and heritage etc.

Therefore, it would note that the governments of both Burma and Bangladesh must recognize the Rohingya as their indigenous ethnic groups as these governments are enjoying the benefits of the Rohinagys’ land that they rule for centuries. Otherwise, these countries must advocate their issues to the international community including the United Nations, European Union, OIC, Arab League, ASEAN, SAARC and etc. to make space for these unfortunate Rohingya to settle them there and to eradicate the problems of statelessness.

As Burma is ruled by the military dictator, involved in gross human rights violations, the international community would put pressure on the regime for the democratic reforms to award ability to advocate the people issues, rather than making worst.

Despite being democratic country, the Bangladesh authorities are deliberately ignoring the issue of the human rights of the “Rohingya” and oppressing them by various means who are already vulnerable and fighting for hand-to-mouth survival in condition of emerging crisis of hunger and poverty.

So, the Rohingya people would like to remind to those communalist and colonialist of Arakan and Burma to stop all sort of maltreatments against the Rohingya including Bengali accusation, discrimination, hatred policy, rape, torture, forced relocation, forced eviction, taxation, confiscation of their land, new Buddhist settlement, restriction on their travels, restriction on marriage, anti-Rohingya propagandas, arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and extra judicial killings etc.

Though the Rohingya are sufferers in the present day, their fate may be changed in a day likewise the Israelis were the sufferers in the hands of Palestinians but now the Palestinians are the sufferers in the hands of Israelis. I don’t mean that the situation of Arakan will lead into such atmosphere but the humanity would be existed at all conditions and all times.

Lastly everyone should be realize the matter of the name of the people and its derivations like the people of Singapore are called Singaporean, Malaysia – Malaysian, Cambodia – Cambodian, Burma – Burmese, Bangladesh –Bangladeshi, Bengal- Bengali, Chittagong- Chittagonian, Arakan –Arakanese or Rohang –Rohingya. The ancient name of Arakan was Rohing and Chittagong was never a part of Bengal but with Rohang. So that the people of Chittagong may be included in Rohingya rather then Bengali, they are also Bangladeshis as it is presently situated in Bangladesh. Similarly, the Rohingya would have rights to be the citizenship in both countries of Burma and Bangladesh as their distinct identity is rightly protected and culture and heritages are rightly preserved. Ð

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Writers are Rohingya activists, fighting for their due rights that lost after the occupation of their ancestral homeland “Rohang” (Arakan) in 1784.

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By Mohammad Sadek and Enayet Ullah (Thailand)