No Response To Refugee Request

Press Release: Terry Evans

27 January 2009

No Response To Refugee Request

Last week the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) made a formal request to the Thai government for permission to visit the 126 refugees believed to be detained on Koh Sai Daing Island in the Andaman Sea. To date the UN refugee agency has failed to elicit a response from Bangkok.

The Thai army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) has admitted to overseeing the arrest and detention of the Rohingya boat people. However, there have been claims that the Thai military forced the migrants' boats back into the sea and left them to die. The Thai foreign ministry spokesman, Thani Thongpajkdi, has refused to answer repeated questions about the current whereabouts of the 126 missing persons. It is believed discussions between Thai government representatives and the UNHCR are proceeding in Bangkok and Geneva, but there is mounting concern about the fate of the 126 Rohingya refugees.

Burma's Muslim Rohingya, from the Rakhine State of western Burma, have suffered extreme persecution by Burma's unelected military regime, being denied Burmese citizenship and freedom of religion. Over the past 20 years thousands have travelled to Thailand by sea and then overland to Malaysia in hopes of finding work.

ENDS

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