|
 The United Nations and the United States called on Friday for an
investigation into the report, published on Thursday and based on a
two-month investigation in three countries, that revealed a
clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thai immigration
detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at
sea.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who chairs a government
committee on human trafficking, declined to comment on the findings
when asked about her reaction.
"I cannot comment on the Rohingya issue and reaction as this is the
responsibility of the Foreign Ministry to handle," she said in a
comment to Reuters, delivered through an aide.
"The ministry will liaise with the United States and the U.N. to
help with any investigation they need."
The Rohingya are stateless Muslims from Myanmar, also known as
Burma. Clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists
exploded in Myanmar last year, making 140,000 people homeless, most
of them Rohingya.
Since then, tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled from Myanmar by
boat and many arrive off southwest Thailand.
After being delivered to human traffickers at sea, the Rohingya are
transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in camps
hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay ransoms to
release them, according to the Reuters report. Some are beaten and
some are killed.
"These allegations need to be investigated urgently," U.N. refugee
agency spokeswoman Vivian Tan said in a statement.
The United States issued a similar call hours later.
"We are aware of reports alleging that Thai officials have been
involved in selling Rohingya migrants to human traffickers," U.S.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. "We urge the Thai
government to conduct a serious and transparent investigation into
the matter."
SANCTIONS RISK
Major General Chatchawal of the Royal Thai Police was quoted in the
Reuters report as saying that there was an unofficial policy to
deport the Rohingya to Myanmar.
He called this "a natural way or option two". But he said the
Rohingya signed statements in which they agree they want to return
to Myanmar.
[to top of second column] |
These statements, however, were at times produced in the absence of
a Rohingya-language translator, Reuters found.
New York-based watchdog group Human Rights Watch criticized Thailand
for moving detainees into established smuggling and trafficking
rings, and warned Thailand could face a possible downgrade in a U.S.
list of the world's worst enforcers of human-trafficking laws.
Such a downgrade would place Thailand, a close U.S. ally and
Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, at risk of U.S. sanctions
and put it on par with North Korea and Iran among the worst
performers in fighting human trafficking.
The U.S. State Department is gathering information for its next
Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, due in June. Thailand faces an
automatic downgrade to Tier 3, the lowest rank, unless it makes
"significant efforts" to improve its record in combating
trafficking, the State Department says. The Tier 3 designation could
leave Thailand subject to U.S. sanctions.
Sek Wannamethee, a spokesman for Thailand's Foreign Ministry, said
earlier that the Rohingya issue was one of several the United States
would take into consideration before deciding on Thailand's grade.
Nine people have been arrested in Thailand in relation to Rohingya
smuggling in 2013, including two government officials, according to
police data. None of the arrests has led to convictions.
Thailand prosecuted 27 people for trafficking in 2012, down from 67
the previous year, according to the 2013 TIP Report by the U.S.
State Department.
(Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; editing by Robert Birsel and Ron
Popeski)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
