Thai premier admits to Rohingya push-back at sea (Roundup)

Feb 13, 2009, 8:56 GMT

   Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva acknowledged in an interview with CNN Friday that there had been instances of authorities pushing Rohingya boat people back to sea, contradicting earlier denials by the Thai military that abuses had been committed.

   'It's not exactly clear whose work it is,' Abhisit told the television news channel.

   'All the authorities say it's not their policy, but I have reason to believe otherwise, but if I can have evidence I will certainly hold the guilty parties accountable,' he said.

   Thai authorities have acknowledged that Rohingya boat people were towed out to sea, but denied that they were physically abused on left to die.

   The Thai prime minister last month ordered an investigation into accusations that almost 1,000 Rohingya refugees had been beaten, tied up and pushed out to sea in boats without engines and sufficient food supplies in December, 2008.

   'The prime minister has said before that should there be conclusive evidence of abuses, those responsible will be held accountable,' said Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thani Thongphakdi.

   Tales of abuse by Thai Navy personnel emerged after hundreds of the Rohingya boat people were rescued in the territorial waters of Indonesia and India.

   As estimated 300 of the boat people pushed out to sea last December are still deemed missing and feared drowned, said Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, a non-government organization that has monitored the persecution of the Rohingya minority group for years.

   The Rohingya, from Myanmar's Arakan State, have been denied citizenship in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Myanmar's junta claims the Muslim minority originated from Bangladesh.

   Persecuted and denied job opportunities and the right to own land in Myanmar, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh where they live in refugee camps.

   Thousands of Rohingya men have paid smugglers to take them to Thailand and Malaysia in search of work.

   Thailand's military regards the Rohingyas as a security threat, fearing they will join the separatist movement in the majority Muslim deep South, where almost 3,300 people have died in clashes and revenge killings over the past five years.

   The Thai government has proposed talks between the concerned countries - Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand - to find a long-term solution to the refugee problem.

   The Rohingya issue is expected to be discussed on the sidelines of the upcoming summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on February 27 to March 1 at the beach resort of Hua Hin, 130 kilometres south-west of Bangkok.