Asean responsibility towards refugees
The Rohingya, who live in the northern part of Arakan state in Myanmar, adjacent to Bangladesh, are a Muslim minority. They are amongst those persecuted by the Myanmar military government. Due to persecution, they have fled to Thailand and Malaysia and live as illegal refugees in miserable conditions in refugee camps. The receiving states consider them illegal refugees and do not provide them with adequate protection. Many of them have been persecuted by the security forces of these states and exploited by the locals. Their situation is pathetic.
The recent boat people incident is additional testimony to their miserable situation. It was reported that the Thai Navy had pushed hundreds of Rohingya boat people back into the sea and let them die. The Indian Navy and the Indonesian authorities in Aceh rescued hundreds of them. Some of the survivors had claimed that they were abused by the Thai Navy. Read the rest of this entry »
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