The new OIC chief and the Rohingya problem in Thailand
The problem of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Thailand is an issue of interest of the new secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (IOC) Mr Iyad Ameen Madani.
The secretary-general who is a Saudi has reportedly tried to communicate with the Thai government through different channels in order to get information about the conditions of the Rohingyas in Thailand, said an informed security source who however said that the attempt was not successful as concerned Thai agencies were reluctant to part with the information due to political conflict.
The OIC’s main issue of interest in non-Muslim countries in this region such as Thailand, China and Myanmar concerns minority Muslims such as the Rohingyas in Myanmar and Thailand and the Uyghur people in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region.
The security source said that the OIC chief might put pressure on the Thai government to come up with proper measures to deal with the Rohingya as well as some 200 Turkish-speaking Uyghur people who were recently found working in rubber plantation in Songkhla.
The Rohingyas have been detained in detention centres as illegal immigrants after they were rescued from a warehouse in Padang Besar, Songkhla’s Sadao district early last year. More Rohingyas were found scattering in southern provinces and held in custoday at various detention centres.
Throughtout last year, there were reports of protests and attempts to break out of the detention centres due to frustration of being forced to live together in limited spaces. Also attempts to deport them back to Myanmar were fruitless as the Myanmar government refused to take them back. Push them out by boat into the sea is impossible either as this will invite protests from the international community and human rights organizations.
The informed security source said that the new OIC chief might ask the Thai government to set up a refugee camp to house these Rohingya illegal immigrants although its idea has always been rejected by the government.
Besides the Rohingyas whose problem is yet to be resolved, a new problem has emerged for the government to deal with. About 200 illegal Muslim immigrants were rounded up in a rubber plantation in Hat Yai district.
The group consists of 78 men, 60 women and 82 children. It was not known where they came from and what was their nationality as there were no documents whatsoever in their possession which could help determine their nationality. Some however claimed they were Turkish and so the Turkish embassy was approached to help solve the mystery. The Chinese embassy was also approached to investigate as they might be Uyghur people.
Another group of 77 illegal Muslim immigrants was rounded up on March 20 after they were abandoned allegedly by human trafficking gang on a road in Padang Besar township.
Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra posted in her Facebook page a message, both in Thai and English languages, saying that the government had provided humanitarian aid to the Muslim immigrants as it had approached all parties concerned to find out the truth about these immigrants.
She also assured that the government would treat this problem based on the principle of humanity and on the interests of all parties concerned.
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Captions :
1 Illegal Muslim immigrants were rounded up in a rubber plantation in Hat Yai district of Songkhla
2 Iyad Ameen Madani