REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANGKOK -- Nearly 100 Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants have been rescued from the woods straddling the Thai- Malaysian border, police said on Saturday.
A total of 95 Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis, mostly being male migrants, had been allegedly brought by a human- trafficking gang from the Andaman Sea via the shores of Thailand's Satun province to the woods in Padang Besar of Songkla province bordering Malaysia's Perlis state, the police said.
The Muslim migrants, who looked exhausted and starving, have been provided food and lodging by Thai authorities. They are yet to be returned to their native countries, the police said.
Besides those who might have been otherwise smuggled by the human traffickers across the Thai-Malaysian border, the remains of 33 Rohingya migrants had been found so far in a makeshift graveyard in Padang Besar, the police said.
The police are yet to find out whether they may have died of malaria or other illnesses or killed by human traffickers.
The Rohingyas who had reportedly fled sectarian violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state and sailed on barges in the Andaman Sea in search of asylum in a third country had been victimized by the human traffickers who extorted money from the migrants in exchange for them being smuggled into the Malaysian territory.
Meanwhile, Padang Besar Mayor Banchong Pongpol was arrested on charges of involvement in the human trafficking along with a suspected gunman.
A total of 36 people had been involved in the human-trafficking preying on the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, including policemen, government officials and local politicians, said deputy police chief Pol Gen Aek Angsananond.
Only six of them had been detained for investigation so far while arrest warrants will be issued for the other suspects.
Police officers in charge of Songkla, Satun and other Thai southern border areas might be transferred without prior notice if found to have neglected their duties, according to the deputy police chief.
Thai Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha asked local authorities, including the southern-based military, to eradicate all human trafficking gangs and punish any officials allegedly involved in such illegal scams.
He said he will certainly apply an interim constitution's Article 44, under which he will have absolute powers to fight crimes, especially those deemed to jeopardize national security as well as public peace and order anywhere in the country.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika