Rohingya Refugees Facing Deportation

Nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees found in camps in Southern Thailand will face deportation. The refugees, seeking asylum from Burma’s persecution of the ethnic Muslim minority, were arrested last week for illegal entry.

The Thai Foreign Ministry said that the refugees allegedly were being held in human trafficker camps in Songkhla, a Southern Thailand border province. Sihasak Puangketkaew, permanent secretary for the Ministry, said “legal action against the Rohingya ethnic detainees will be on humanitarian grounds while international organisations have been asked to intervene and assist.”

Human rights activists, like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), are urging the Thai government not to deport the Rohingya to Burma, saying that sending them back “would put their lives and freedoms in danger.”

Thailand considers the refugees illegal economic immigrants, not persecuted refugees, and typically refuses to grant them asylum.

Related video: Anti-Rohingya Demonstrations by Buddhist Monks

Related story: No Home for Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh

Flickr photo courtesy of No_Direction_Home