Skip to main content

Thais open hearts to Rohingya, bringing supplies and sympathy

Muhammad Sabare, 14, weeps in gratitude as he represents Rohingya youngsters who gathered to give thanks to people who donated food and other necessities to them at a shelter in Narathiwat yesterday. Locals donated to many shelters housing Rohingya across the southernmost provinces. (Photo - WAEDAO HARAI)

A huge procession of Thai people turned out to deliver food, cash and necessities to help Rohingya migrants confined in various shelters yesterday.

In Narathiwat's Yi-ngo district, Nasaran Salae-ma, headmaster of Akrasatwitthaya School, imam representatives as well as Muslim and Buddhist people gave food, clothes and cash to Muhammad Sakee, chief of the Narathiwat Home for Children and Families, to help 18 Rohingya youths who were brought there.

Shelter staff said health officials in Narathiwat will be contacted to conduct medical check-ups for the Rohingya.

The staff members were concerned about their mental condition as many of them were traumatised from horrendous memories of their hometowns in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Muhammad Sabare, a 14-year-old Rohingya boy, led his group to pray for the donors' prosperity in return.

Through translators, Muhammad pleaded with Thai authorities to help the Rohingya as he and his family were separated for more than two months. He also thanked Thai people who provided them with help. Close to 1,000 Rohingya have been detained in Thailand.

At the Trang Shelter for Children and Families, Trang Hospital officers yesterday performed medical check-ups for 12 Rohingya children and one adult there.

Most of them were found to be malnourished and some had sustained injuries during their long journey.

In Yala, Thai Buddhists and Muslims delivered food, money, clothes and other necessities to the office of Young Muslim Association of Thailand (YMAT) in the province's municipality.

The association is scheduled to provide all the donated goods to Rohingya migrants in Songkhla's Sadao district today.

Abdul Aziz Tadaein, head of the human rights section of the YMAT, said the association had previously helped the Rohingya.

The group also delivered money for Rohingya people in Myanmar, he said, adding that the association's representatives will travel to Myanmar next month to give more help.

Mr Abdul urged Thai authorities not to send the Rohingya migrants back to Myanmar.

He said it would be better to set up a temporary shelter for them during the time they are seeking asylum in the third countries.

At the Pattani Shelter for Children and Families, streams of people have donated food for 22 Rohingya migrants at the facility.

Thakorn Hemvichien, chief of the shelter, told donors it was better to give cash instead of food as the centre already provides food which properly suits Rohingya people's needs.

Meanwhile, Bang Klam police station in Songkhla has supported the 21 confined Rohingya migrants with activities along with villagers.

The move was agreed by a joint panel of Bang Klam police and villagers, Pol Col Suriya Panyamang, the station chief, said. They all agreed that Rohingya migrants were not wrongdoers, but victims, so they should be allowed to live outside of the cells under supervision, Pol Col Suriya said.

Rohingya will help renovate a deserted section of police accommodation together with the villagers so they can live there, Pol Col Suriya said, adding the Rohingya love the activities.

Another 40 Rohingya will be transferred from other police stations to Bang Klam as there is still plenty of accommodation for them here, he said.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung undergoes questioning

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung By Kayleigh Long Myanmar Times February 07, 2014 Union Solidarity and Development Party MP U Shwe Maung has been questioned by police in Nay Pyi Taw over comments he made to Democratic Voice of Burma about possible police involvement in a fire that broke out in a Muslim village in Rakhine State late last month. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in the blaze at Du Chee Yar Tan West village near Maungdaw in northern Rakhine State on January 28. U Shwe Maung said the February 4 interrogation came at the behest of President U Thein Sein, who sent a letter to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann requesting permission for police question the MP. The interview lasted about 90 minutes and was conducted at his USDP living quarters in Nay Pyi Taw. It focused on allegations that U Shwe Maung, a Rohingya, had defamed the state and police by saying that residents believed security forces were involved in starting the fire. ...

ERC representatives and Dr.Maung Zarni partook a seminar in Sweden

ERC Delegation Meet Dr. Zarni Mohamed Farooq ( Mayu Press) May 7, 2013 The Stockholm University of Sweden held a seminar on “Forum for Asian Studies” at William Olsson Hall, the department of geological science on 3rd May 2013. It depicts Rohingya tragedy and Human Right Eradication in western Burma. Burma (Myanmar) is a nation with ambition to make their name and discharge their White Man’s Burden, one of the world’s hottest assignments in the world of diplomats, development consultants, NGO experts and academic researchers, a lucrative ‘frontier’ market for investors, venture capitalists and multinationals, a must-go for both citizen-tourists and global luminaries. This lecture will critically discuss the rose-tinted view of reforms in Burma against the troubling realties as lived by the people of that country, including full-scale Rohingya genocide of 40 years, the 60-years of Burmese army’s un-ending internal colonial wars against the Christian Kachins, the Kare...

রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনো ভবিষ্যৎ নেই

বাংলাদেশের আশ্রয়শিবিরে বসবাসকারী রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনোই ভবিষ্যৎ নেই বলে মন্তব্য করেছেন রোহিঙ্গা বিষয়ক আইনজীবী রাজিয়া সুলতানা। তিনি এই আশ্রয়শিবিরকে চিড়িয়াখানার সঙ্গে তুলনা করেছেন এবং রোহিঙ্গাদের ফেরত পাঠানোর জন্য একটি উপযুক্ত কৌশল নির্ধারণের আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন। কয়েকদিন আগে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয়ের ইন্টারন্যাশনাল ওমেন অব কারেজ এওয়ার্ড (আইডব্লিউসিএ) পুরস্কার পান রাজিয়া সুলতানা। সাহসিকতা দেখানোর জন্য সারা বিশ্ব থেকে বাছাই করা ১০ জন নারীকে এ পুরস্কার দেয়া হয়।  রাজিয়া সুলতানার একটি সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছে বার্তা সংস্থা রয়টার্স। তাতে তিনি রোহিঙ্গাদের পরিণতি নিয়ে হতাশা প্রকাশ করেন। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, মিয়ানমারের মুসলিম সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের মধ্যে আশার অভাব রয়েছে। ২০১৭ সালের আগস্টে মিয়ানমারের সেনাবাহিনীর নৃশংস নির্যাতনের ফলে তারা পালিয়ে এসে বাংলাদেশে আশ্রয় নিতে বাধ্য হয়। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, এই আশ্রয় শিবিরে যত বেশি সময় শরণার্থীরা থাকবেন ততই পরিস্থিতির অবনতি ঘটতে থাকবে। ওই সাক্ষাৎকারে তিনি আরো বলেন, হ্যাঁ, এ কথা সত্য যে, শরণার্থীরা খাবার পাচ্ছে। কিন...