Rohingya baby born in refugee boat

By: AFP | February 01, 2013 . 0

BANGKOK - A Rohingya refugee gave birth to a baby boy on an overcrowded boat carrying around 110 people which arrived in Thailand from unrest-hit western Myanmar, an official said Thursday. The boat was sinking when it landed at Surin island off Thailand’s southwestern province of Phang Nga near the border with Myanmar on Wednesday, a local government official told AFP. “Among them there was a new-born baby, aged around a week up to 10 days old,” Manit Pienthong said. “They (the refugees) told us a baby was born in a boat. We sent the baby to hospital for a check-up - the baby is fine.”

Exclusive report: Rohingyas flee into an unwelcoming Bangladesh By Mashiur Rahaman / Creative: Mashiur Rahaman

Published: January 29, 2013

The Rohingyas have no state to call their own. PHOTO: MASHIUR RAHAMAN

 

BANGLADESH / TEKNAF:  Six months ago, 89-year-old Abdul Matin fled the sectarian riots in the state of Rakhine, in Myanmar, to a refugee camp in Bangladesh. His house was burnt down during the unrest, along with all his belongings. With nothing but cruel memories of a bleeding homeland, he and his family salvaged what they could and crossed over the River Naf.

“We had no choice but to sell the jewllery my wife was wearing at the time we escaped to pay to cross the river,” Matin told The Express Tribune.

Thailand detains 200 Rohingya boat people fleeing from Myanmar

Thailand says it has intercepted a boat carrying 200 Myanmarese Rohingyas near the southwestern island of Phuket and has detained the refugees.

The Rohingya refugees were spotted off Racha Noi Island in Phuket’s Muang district on Tuesday.

The Thai Naval Force said the refugees were provided with food and water.

On Monday, Thai National Security Council Secretary General Paradorn Pattanathabutr stated that Thailand would no longer allow Rohingya boat people fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar to enter the country.

350 Rohingya found in Ranong, Phuket

Nearly 350 illegal Rohingya migrants were found crammed inside two vessels entering Thai waters in southern Ranong and Phuket provinces on Tuesday.

In Ranong, a boat carrying about 140 Rohingya migrants was spotted floating about 5.5 kilometres off Phayam island in Muang district about 8.30am by a naval patrol boat.

Naval officers provided the illegal migrants with food and water, a source said. Humanitarian assistance was also provided to help them on the way to their destination.

The Rohingya had to be sent back out to sea as authorities were already struggling with an influx of illegal Muslim Rohingya migrants, the source said.

Asean urged to address Rohingya

The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) says the Myanmar government's policy of segregation in Rakhine state is the main factor in the mass migration of the Rohingya people - and admits it is also at fault for its own failure to act in the past.

Kraisak Choonhavan, vice president of AIPMC and chair of the Thailand Caucus, said many Rohingya people fleeing Myanmar in hope of better life are likely to instead face detention or discrimination in other countries.

Mr Kraisak blamed Asean for not doing enough to address the root cause of the problem, in a statement issued on Tuesday.

He said Asean should put pressure on the Myanmar government to do more to safely integrate the Rohingya population and ensure them their basic rights. 

Fresh wave of Rohingya refugees arrive south of Phuket

PHUKET: An estimated 200 Rohingya refugees landed on Koh Racha Noi this morning, as reports simultaneously flooded in of another convoy, carrying about 180 men, women and children, coming ashore at Koh Phra Thong on the Phang Nga coast.

“We have received reports of about 200 men, women and children travelling in two open boats landing on Koh Racha Noi,” an officer of the Royal Thai Navy confirmed to the Phuket Gazette.

An estimated 200 Rohingya refugees landed on the uninhabited island of Koh Racha Noi, 25 kilometers south of Phuket, this morning. Photo: Royal Thai Navy

 

“We have also received reports that another 180 Rohingya have landed on Koh Phra Thong, in Phang Nga,” the officer added.

Myanmar nationals charged for trafficking people

By Adib Povera

ALOR STAR: Eight Myanmar nationals were charged at the Sessions Court today with trafficking in 474 people from their homeland into the country end of last year.

Teh Oun, 52, Aung Win, 45, Ton Lil, 30, Tan Win Mow, 29, Tun Tun Ni, 25, Til Wen, 25, Ah Hin, 20, and Lia Min Tong, 20, were jointly charged with trafficking in their countrymen who had no valid travel documents.

No plea was recorded from the accused who were alleged to have committed the offence in Pantai Kok, Langkawi, near here about 10.20am on Dec 30.