THAILAND: Rohingya teenagers "in good condition"
Photo: David Swanson/IRIN  | | A young Rohingya man at the Kutupalong refugee camp in southern Bangladesh. There are more than 200,000 Rohingya now living in Bangladesh |
BANGKOK, 29 January 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) was granted full access late on 29 January to 12 teenage Rohingya boys who washed ashore in Thailand earlier this week.
“This is a step forward,” Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for UNHCR, told IRIN regarding the meetings, which were held at the Ranong immigration centre in the presence of Thai immigration officials.
“We wanted to know who they were, where they were from, and what their protection needs were,” she said.
The boys, ranging in age from 14 to 17, were in good condition and spirits and felt comfortable in freely answering questions, she said.
Part of a larger group of 78 Rohingya boat people, they were intercepted off the coast by the Thai Royal Navy on 27 January after fleeing their native Myanmar.
UNHCR is working closely with Thai authorities to gain access to the remaining 66 Rohingya men being detained for illegally entering Thailand and now facing deportation.
“In principle, we have an agreement to get access to them as well and we are working out the details on this,” the UNHCR official said.
“We will be holding discussions with the Thai government before deciding what to do next,” McKinsey said, adding: “We are getting good cooperation from the Thai authorities.”
Rohingya background
According to human rights groups, the Rohingya, Muslim residents from Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state, are an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority that are de jure stateless in accordance with the laws of Myanmar.
Their systematic and continuous persecution by Myanmar’s government has for years prompted thousands to flee the country, mainly to Bangladesh or other countries in the area of the Andaman Sea, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia.
There are more than 200,000 Rohingya living in Bangladesh, of whom 28,000 are documented refugees living in two UNHCR camps.
Thai authorities view those Rohingya entering the kingdom as illegal labour migrants and estimate there are already some 20,000 in the country.
Earlier this month, Thai authorities were criticised over their handling of arriving Rohingya boat people amid allegations that hundreds were towed out to sea and left to die without adequate humanitarian supplies.
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