Thailand: U.N. Inquiry on Refugees

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

The United Nations refugee agency requested access on Tuesday to 126 refugees from Myanmar being held in southern Thailand, amid allegations that mistreatment by Thai security forces had led to the deaths of other refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that 80 ethnic Rohingya boat people were being held on Koh Sai Daeng island in the Andaman Sea and that the whereabouts of 46 others, intercepted Friday on a boat and turned over to the Thai military, were unknown. Rights groups say that hundreds of Rohingya, a Muslim minority fleeing oppression in Myanmar, were detained by the Thai military last month and forced back to sea with little food or water in boats without engines. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand denied the claims. “Let’s be clear that Thailand has not violated the human rights of the refugees,” he said Tuesday.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/world/asia/21briefs-U...