illegal immigrants

[lepidoptra]

Just read on the BBC website that Thai Police or soldiers are intercepting refugees from Burma. They are tying the hands of these unfortunate people, taking the engines of their boats, putting them back into the boats and letting them drift out to sea. Sounds par for the course. [-o<

[papaguido]

http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/i ... 11862.html

[BobHelm]

If the story is true then I am certainly not condoning their actions.
But illegal immigration is one of the most difficult problems for any country to solve. I have never heard any body or group praise the way that any particular country handle immigration.
There are (basically) two sorts of illegals, 'economic' (i.e. they see a better chance of improving their standard of living in a country other than their own) & 'political' (i.e. they have views that differ greatly than those who are in power in their country & so are in fear of reprisals).
While I feel for both these groups you must also feel for the legal inhabitants of the country they are trying to enter.
The 'economic' immigrants are often willing to work in far poorer conditions for far poorer wages than legal citizens. This distorts the labour market in the country to the detriment of its legal citizens.
The 'political' immigrants often hold (what many in the world) would see as 'extreme' views. They do not change their views just because they have changed country. Often they create discord & unrest in a country that has offered them sanctuary just because there is more freedom there.
I think the important word in all this is illegal and this should be taken into account when viewing how a receiving country handles them!!!

[laphanphon]

better to take the engines, give them paddles, and don't tie their hands.............good bye. have a nice trip home.

[lepidoptra]

Can't find any reference to this in the Thai media?

[laphanphon]

yes, 7 news articles, only one from thailand (irrawaddy), which is in english and based in chiang mai, so locals will not get that news. after couple more international, or hits AP/Reuters, maybe it will be covered in bbk post or nation, as of now, just checked, nothing on the front page of english version of their websites.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/index.php

[rickfarang]

That is a shocking story. Its difficult to imagine Thais acting in such a way, yet the BBC is reporting it, and apparently, many survivors are telling similar stories.

[vlad]

I go on a site called phuketwan there had a tourist boat coming into the beach full of tourists to be met by thai navy having the illegals lyeing face down in the baking sun with there hands tied and if they moved there were whipped with a leather strap r a heavy vine. The tourist's took pics but they were were confiscated by the navy guys. Shame we cannot get the thai navy over here to dish out there way of gettin rid of illegals because our lot hav'nt got a clue it is being proven that 1 day WE will be the minority in our own countrt.

[Paul]

Is this Heading ' General Topics on Udonthani' ? or what ???

[arjay]

Here's another report from the BBC this afternoon (friday):-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7832905.stm

[ambrosius]

It is in the news worldwide. In Belgium the headline of the most popular newspaper was "Thai marines throw cuffed refugees in sea" (translated from Dutch)

Refugees - illegals -> what's in a name ... a lot I would say in this case

[beer monkey]

Bangkok - Thailand's government is investigating reports that a boatload of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar were set adrift in an overcrowded boat by border officials in December, allegedly resulting in many deaths, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Thailand remains committed to 'humanitarian principles,' even in the face of the 'increasing urgency' and the 'increasing size' of human trafficking in the region, the statement added.

Human rights groups have condemned Thai officials for allegedly forcing hundreds of immigrants into a boat with very little water or food last month, in an apparent backlash to large numbers of migrants seeking to land in Thailand.

Indian authorities reported finding 105 people on the boat near the Andaman Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean last month. The boat occupants told the Indian authorities that more than 300 people had jumped into the sea to try to swim ashore after the boat had drifted for a fortnight. The vessel was no more than 25 metres long, with no protection from the sun, according to reports.

Bangladeshis hoping to find work in Malaysia or Thailand - countries that each employ several million mostly illegal foreign workers - often pay traffickers several hundred dollars for the relatively short trip across the Indian Ocean. Some Myanmar Muslims - sometimes referred to as Rohingyas - frequently join the reputedly hazardous trips.

The chief of the Royal Thai Navy, Admiral Kamthorn Phumhiran, denied Friday reports that intercepted immigrants had been mistreated. He did so after the release of pictures of captured Myanmar Muslims forced to lie face down on a Thai beach.

'The Royal Thai Navy did not badly treat the Rohingyas. There was no setting them adrift as alleged,' said Admiral Kamthorn, according to the Nation.

The foreign ministry said it would 'reassess the overall situation of illegal immigrants, taking into consideration relevant developments.' It said Thailand wanted a coordinated response to human trafficking that 'must necessarily engage countries of origin, transit and destination'.

Thailand's foreign minister promised in January, before taking office, that Thailand would pursue a 'clean and humane' foreign policy. He contrasted this with what he called the 'tainted' and self-serving foreign policies persuaded by the former regime.

The number of underground workers in relatively rich Thailand and Malaysia is thought to be very large and economically useful for labour intensive businesses. But, as the economic crisis unfolds, many pundits have predicted that the illegal workforces will become increasing sensitive political problems in both countries.

[aznyron]

as American coming from a country of immigrants we have our problem also with illegals but it not just illegal it also legal ones that cause problems as well like pakistan Russian Jews which comes in a get all sort of benefits American citizen can not get also business exploits the illegals they know they will work for 1/2 of the minimum wage
because that better money than they get from home country The politicians got the answer it called guest worker program but the chamber of commerce does not want it because they can get them cheaper by them being illegal
and who is the chamber of commerce they are a powerful bunch of business people who vote and contribute to
the Republican party incidentally illegals can not VOTE other wise the Democrats would be helping them get in
to the country so it cheap votes or cheap labor Amazing

[arjay]

From the BBC News website:

Thais 'leave boat people to die'
Burmese Rohingyas under guard in Thailand
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.

Dehydrated Bangladeshi immigrant after being rescued by the Indian coast guard
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.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7830710.stm

[arjay]

From the BBC Website - A survivor's story

Survivor's ordeal on Andaman Sea

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

Migrants on a boat which has no engine (Pictures: Sanjib Roy)
'Barely one-fourth of the boat people have survived the journey'

Mohammed wants to avoid detailed identification as that could mean trouble when India sends him back to his native Arakan province in Burma. So he avoids cameras.

This poor 22-year-old Rohingya Muslim from a village near Buthidaung, in Arakan province, is desperate for a new way of life - and is therefore easy prey for dubious agents who put them on the risky boat voyage to Thailand with a promise of work and good money.

Rescued by Indian coast guards from the seas east of the Little Andaman islands last week after saying he was pushed back into the sea by Thai soldiers, Mohammed is "grateful to Allah for being alive".

"Most of those pushed back into the sea by the Thai military have perished," said Mohammed, as he provided the BBC with graphic details of the operation.

"Barely one-fourth of us have survived."

The Thai military has denied setting hundreds of refugees adrift at sea last month.

Mohammed said he was in a boat with 105 people and there was another with 102, sailing side-by-side from Bangladesh before they were intercepted by the Thai navy.

Later two more boats with 208 people were intercepted similarly, he said.

"We had sailed for 12 days before we were caught. We were put on a desolate island for eight days, beaten [and then] put in a flat and open-bodied boat with no engine.

The migrants after they were rescued by the Indian coast guards (Picture: Sanjib Roy)
The migrants alleged they were beaten and some thrown into the sea

"This was towed into the high seas by the Thai navy and we were forced to board it at gunpoint," Mohammed said as he wept.

"Those who resisted were thrown into the sea by the Thai soldiers, at least four of them, their hands and legs tied," he said over a phone line from the Andamans.

"We were left with only 10kg of rice and some water in that huge boat right in the middle of a very choppy sea. Our food and water ran out on the second day and slowly we lost all power to move," Mohammed said.

He recounted the day when they first spotted a lighthouse on the coast just before sunset.

"Seeing the light, many... were afraid that the boat would be carried away by the strong current and that they would lose the land forever.

"We couldn't stop them from jumping into the sea, as they were too impatient. We saw many drowning, as none of them had any energy left to swim."

'Eaten by sharks'

At night, one Indian coast guard vessel approached their boat and rescued them, but only 98 were counted alive, says Mohammed.

"When we told the Indian coast guards that there were more than 400 on board, they launched a further search and found nine of our people alive in the sea," he said weeping, as he remembered his four friends who had jumped into the sea and disappeared.

"While sailing, we had seen sharks and I suspect many of our people were eaten by them."

Mohammed's ordeal has made him very weak and he has been put on rehydration therapy.

"For me, it is like back to heaven from hell now but I am really worried what will happen when the Indians send us back to Burma," says Mohammed.

"That will be back to hell again."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7832947.stm