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| Southeast Asia |
| More Rohingya migrants die in Thailand as dozens held |
| 2015-01-15 |
| [ARABNEWS] Two more Rohingya migrants have died in southern Thailand after trucks packed with dozens of members of the Myanmar Moslem minority group were intercepted by authorities, police said on Wednesday. The two men, both believed to be aged 20, died in hospital of hunger and dehydration on Tuesday, a day after police reported a Rohingya woman had died from suffocation while making the same journey through the kingdom. On Sunday Thai authorities found five pickup trucks carrying nearly 100 Rohingya, mostly aged under 18, in the Hua Sai district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province on the Gulf of Thailand. These two men were found to be in a serious condition, provincial police commander Kiattipong Khawsamang told AFP. We took them to two local hospitals, where they died from hunger and dehydration. Two of the Thai pickup drivers locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! at the scene have been charged with human trafficking, the commander added. We are investigating others involved in the trafficking ring and believe we can issue arrest warrants against them soon, he said. The 95 surviving migrants are currently being held in shelters in the southern province as Thailands social development ministry determines whether to deport them back to Myanmar. Thousands of Rohingya, described by the UN as one of the worlds most persecuted minorities, have fled deadly communal unrest in western Myanmars Rakhine state since 2012. |
| Posted by:Fred |