Thailand has been accused of mistreating the illegal immigrants (Photo: Thai navy)
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta
Thai soldiers are detaining illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Burma and forcing them back out to sea in boats without engines, survivors say.
Survivors say their hands were tied and they were towed out to sea with little or no food or water.
About 500 migrants are now recovering from acute dehydration in India's Andaman islands and the Indonesian province of Aceh.
Thai officials were not immediately available for comment.
But sources in the police and army confirmed to the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok that asylum seekers are being pushed out to sea. They did not provide further details about the practice.
Thousands of poor Burmese and Bangladeshis try to reach south-east Asian nations in search of work. 'Without food'
Survivors rescued by Indian coast guards say hundreds of other asylum-seekers are still missing after leaving Bangladesh and Burma since the end of November.
They told the BBC that they paid agents to take them to Thailand by boat so that they could have a better life.
They said that the Thai authorities detained many of them in Koh Sai Daeng island.
"Thai soldiers tied up our hands and then put us in boats without engines. These were towed into the high sea by motorised boats and left to drift," said Zaw Win, a survivor rescued by Indian coast guards off the coast of Little Andamans after drifting for 12 days.
"We were without food and water. The Thai soldiers clearly wanted us to die on the boats," Win told the BBC by telephone from a camp where survivors are being cared for.
Other survivors said that about 400 migrants were put on a huge boat by soldiers. It was equipped with only two bags of rice and two drums of drinking water.
"The food and water ran out in two days. After that we were starving for nearly 15 days before we saw a lighthouse and jumped into the sea and tried swimming ashore," Mohammed Said told the BBC.
This group of migrants was also rescued by the Indian coast guards and put into relief camps.
"They have all suffered huge dehydration. We are taking care of them the best we can," said Ratan Kar, deputy director of health services in the Andamans. 'Dehydration and starvation'
Nearly all of those rescued have equally harrowing stories. The asylum seekers are dehydrated (Photo: Andaman Chronicle )
One Rohingya villager from Burma said that his son and seven friends had left together on the same boat.
He said that after they were arrested by the Thai authorities, they were forced onto the same large boat without an engine:
"Four of them, including my son, survived but four died," he said.
"My son told me that many died because of dehydration and starvation but many also jumped into the sea.
"When the boat finally drifted close to an Andaman island, there were only just over 100 still onboard." The refugees say that hardly any of them escaped the Thai military guarding the country's coastal islands. Human rights activists have condemned Thailand's "inhuman and brutal response" to this new wave of illegal migration.
these Rohingya Muslims are going to Malaysia to join their tens of thousands people living in Malaysia... they have to enter thailand first and enter Malaysia from land (if they come to Malaysia by the sea, the navy and immigration would send them back to Myanmar.
But, Malaysia is not really a paradise for them...
Human Rights Watch report confirms Malaysia’s mistreatment of Rohingya refugees
By a correspondent in Bangkok
[Crescent International, August 16-31, 2000.]
Police extortion, torture, beating: these are some of the realities faced by Rohingya Muslims who cross the border from Burma to Malaysia in order to escape the brutal Burmese junta, according to a report released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on August 1. The report is yet another blow to the claims of Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that Malaysia is a "model Muslim country".
The 78-page report, called "Living in Limbo: Burmese Rohingyas in Malaysia", documents the treatment meted out by Malaysian authorities to Rohingyas fleeing from Burmese persecution of minorities. The report notes that refugees in Malaysia, unlike other countries, are not permitted to attend school and are denied health care.
Even individuals recognised as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are arrested and deported. In a statement, HRW said the Rohingya face a whole new set of abuses in Malaysia including beatings, extortion and arbitrary detention. "Malaysia’s treatment of the Rohingya is part of a larger failure to protect refugees, no matter where they come from. Malaysia has no asylum system, and treats refugees as illegal immigrants," it added.
The Rohingya Muslims originate from the Arakan state in western Burma but are denied citizenship rights by the Burmese military regime, a close political and economic ally of the Mahathir regime. The Rohingyas are thus denied the right to travel outside or within Burma, and refused education opportunities and jobs.
When persecution by the Burmese junta mounted during the early 90s, millions of Rohingyas were displaced, most fleeing across the border to Bangladesh but tens of thousands also making their way into Malaysia, little knowing the Malaysian regime’s treatment of immigrants.
HRW also accuses the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur of not putting enough efforts to help Rohingya refugees. It notes that out of nearly 1,600 applications by Rohingya for refugee status in 1999, only 43 were granted, suggesting that the UN body is "systematically underestimating the dangers Rohingya face if forced back to Burma."
The report is yet another ****ing indictment of Malaysia’s oppressive immigration policies and its treatment of Muslim refugees and immigrants. Earlier this year, Malaysians were treated to shocking testimonies in court by former Bangladeshi immigrants who related how they were sexually and physically tortured by police and immigration officials while in detention at filthy immigration "depots". Several witnesses have also related how they were forced to perform sexual acts on fellow detainees and denied proper food and clothing. They said they were kept in crowded mosquito-infested cells with foul toilets and forced to stare into the sun.
The witnesses were testifying at the case of Irene Fernandez, director of a women’s non-governmental organisation called Tenaganita ("Women’s Power"). She is facing charges of "malicious publication of false news". Her "crime" was releasing a memorandum entitled "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Treatment of Migrant Workers at Detention Camps" in 1995, alleging mistreatment of Bangladeshi detainees at immigration camps.
Malaysia’s abuses of detainees have largely been out of the sight of domestic and international monitors. When such abuses are brought to light, the Malaysian regime routinely responds by attacking the sources of information rather than addressing the problems. The latest report contains several individual cases of abuse based on HRW’s interviews with refugees. It accuses Malaysian police of resorting to extortion and bribery to secure the release of arrested immigrants.
The report also found that the Rohingya, as a "vulnerable group", are an easy target for corrupt policemen. One refugee interviewed said: "The police are waiting when I go to work and they do not ask for any documents, only bribes — about RM10 (about US$2.50). He addedthat he has lost count of how many times the police have extorted money from him.
According to an Islamic missionary organisation, there are about 15,000 Rohingya with refugee status in Malaysia in these states:
1) Selangor (5,000)
2) Penang (4,500)
3) Johor (2,500)
4) Kedah (2,000)
5) Kelantan (1,500)
6) Negeri Sembilan (700)
7) Terengganu (350)
8) Malacca (300)
The Rohingyas established an organisation called Rohingya Ulama Council and managed to establish 3 religious schools for Rohingya kids... they're planning to build 5 more schools... religious councils in Kuala Lumpur and Penang are helping the organisation too.
Future Global Network is the main Islamic missionary group helping the Rohingyas in Malaysia..
The report also found that the Rohingya, as a "vulnerable group", are an easy target for corrupt policemen. One refugee interviewed said: "The police are waiting when I go to work and they do not ask for any documents, only bribes — about RM10 (about US$2.50). He added that he has lost count of how many times the police have extorted money from him.
Brother north malaysian, I want to apologize if you think my question is too sensitive.
Are they (Rohingya) allowed to get some jobs in Malaysia ? or they have worked as a illegal workers ?
Brother north malaysian, I want to apologize if you think my question is too sensitive.
Are they (Rohingya) allowed to get some jobs in Malaysia ? or they have worked as a illegal workers ?
it's not a sensitive question at all, Malaysians should wake up from their cosy lives and start to treat other nationalities (ie. immigrants, refugees) as human beings too... there are many crazy Malaysians who want the immigrants to get out from this country right now as many factories are closing...it's estimated that 200,000 people could be jobless...
Malaysia doesnt have any laws recognising refugee/asylum seeker status...
Non-Malaysians need "Working visa" to work in Malaysia and there are quotas for specfic jobs for specific nationalities...
For example, only Nepalis can be employed for security job. In food services, it's only for Indonesians, Thais, Indians and Bangladeshis. For maids, only Filipinos, Indonesians, Cambodians and Sri Lankans.
In the case of rohingyas, they are considered as stateless people as they have no passports...so there are no jobs that they can apply as they have no working visa...and it's illegal for any Malaysians to take them as employees.... Usually they collect metal scraps and recycleable things, work for UNCHR as cleaners etc
In the 90s, there were so many Rohingya kids begging at mosques during Friday and Eid prayers.... but now there are no Rohingya beggars as there are some Islamic missionaries provide education and shelter for these Rohingya kids...
Last edited by north_malaysian; 01-24-2009 at 03:11 AM.
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Thailand has been accused of mistreating the illegal immigrants (Photo: Thai navy)
The asylum seekers are dehydrated (Photo: Andaman Chronicle )
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