Thailand
will be working closely with international agencies, including the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees, to extend help to 857 Rohingya people
found illegally entering Thailand earlier this month.
We
will proceed in line with laws and humanitarian
principle," Foreign Affairs
Ministry's permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Tuesday.
He said UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and the Unicef, had expressed concerns and the wish to help the Rohingya people.
"So,
we will have close discussions on what to do next. Otherwise, when
the legal process in Thailand is completed, we will have to consider
deporting them," Sihasak said at a press conference.
Speaking
from a state-sponsored shelter in Narathiwat, a 10-year-old Rohingya
boy said he would be dead if he was deported back to Myanmar's
Yakhine State
Rohingya
people are a Muslim minority group in Thailand's neighbouring
country.
"My
parents and all my four older siblings were killed," Nurahazim
said. His body was scarred with many knife wounds and beating wound.
"A
rich man there helped us (survivors of violence) by giving us a boat.
So, we went into the sea and hoped we could reach a Muslim country,"
the boy said via an interpreter.
According
to Nurahazim, his boat went ashore in Thailand and a man identifying
himself as a soldier promised to help transferring them to Malaysia
if receiving Bt150,000 per head. In the end, they were put in the
hands of human traffickers.
"I
feel hurt," Nurahazim said.
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