Source Phuket_Wan:
February 14, 2013
By Human Rights Urgent Appeals
Program
THAILAND: Rohingya asylum
seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand
ISSUES: Refugees, IDPs and asylum seekers; human trafficking; minorities
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned for the fate of Rohingya asylum seekers who have been arrested in the past weeks in police sweeps of remote areas in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia and the other provinces. They have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution.
Even though Rohingya migrants are entering into Thailand without
permission, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race
and religion they are entitled to seek asylum. Therefore customary
international law and the non-refoulement principle should be strictly applied
by the Thai state.
CASE DETAILS:
Rohingya migrants have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected
to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the
past weeks as police rounded up 397 Rohingya migrants at remote areas in rubber
plantations in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia on
January 10, 2013. As of January 31, the number of Rohingya reportedly arrested
was 1486 persons.
On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a
petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for
the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on
civil and political rights would meet state agencies on January 28 to discuss
the issue.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingya until
their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees is also trying to determine the peoples' status but a person shall be
granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.
On January 18, The Central Islamic
Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla
province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been
charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations,
international organisations and the UN agencies on human rights to discuss with
a third country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.
But, on January 21, the National
Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as
illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people
alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the
role of human trafficking agencies.
On January 31, the government decided
to take care of the Rohingya for six months. The male Rohingya asylum seekers
were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were
staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for
children and women.
For further analysis of the legal
status under law on Immigration of these persons in Thailand, please see the
sample letter, below.
Background Information:
Even though Rohingya migrants
entering into Thailand under domestic law could be removed from the territory,
because they are seeking asylum in accordance with the terms of the 1951
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and because many of them are
stateless persons, the government of Thailand has an obligation to recognise
their claims and make necessary arrangements to accommodate them until such a
time as they can return to Burma safely or go to a third country. These
obligations apply under international customary law irrespective of the fact
that Thailand has not ratified the 1951 Convention.
Rohingya from western Burma have
since the 1970s been subject to systematic programs for their removal from the
country or for their economic and political marginalisation, through denial of
access to travel documents, effectively prohibiting them from enjoying rights
to education, health, movement and employment that other people in the country
have. Since the mid-2000s, increasing numbers have come to Thailand, sometimes
on their way to Malaysia or Indonesia, where authorities have treated them with
hostility, on some occasions reportedly towing boats that have attempted to
land back out to sea.
The most recent arrivals have fled
following violence in mid-2012 and October 2012, during which entire urban
communities and villages were allegedly razed through fire by members of
indigenous communities, claiming that the Rohingya have no legitimate claim to
reside as an ethnic minority in Burma. Claims that the persons responsible for
attacks were backed by government officials are credible given the longstanding
and blatant anti-Rohingya position taken by the government in Burma and its
personnel, but are difficult to prove given the current conditions in the
region, which remains under a state of emergency.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the
authorities listed below, urging them to assist Rohingya asylum seekers, not
treat them as illegal immigrants. Please note that for the purposes of this letter,
Burma is referred to by its official name as Myanmar.
Please be informed that the AHRC is
writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in
persons, on the human rights of internally displaced persons, on human rights
in Myanmar, and to the human rights office in Bangkok, calling for urgent
intervention into this matter.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear -----,
THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers
arrested in southern provinces of Thailand
I am writing to you to call for
urgent intervention into the case of Rohingya migrants who have fled from
Myanmar, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In
Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as they have arrived in the
county's south. According to the information I have received, as of January 31,
a total of 1486 Rohingya had been taken into custody. [More recenly the number
was given as 1752.]
On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya
Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission
of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran
Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civilian and political rights would meet
state agencies on January 28 to discuss the issue.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingya until
their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be
granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.
On January 18, The Central Islamic
Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla
province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been
charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations,
international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to
discuss with a third-party country the possibility of granting asylum to the
Rohingya migrants.
But, on January 21, the National
Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as
illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people
alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the
role of human trafficking agencies.
On January 31, the government had
decided to take care of the illegal Rohingya migrants for six months. The male
Rohingya migrants were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and
children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human
Security's shelters for children and women.
In this context, I want to take this
opportunity to express my concern about law enforcement under Immigration Act
B.E.2522 (1979). Clearly, the Rohingya are not Thai nationals and have entered
Thailand as aliens, in accordance with section 4 of the Act. They having no
genuine and valid passport or document used in lieu of passport, and therefore
under section 58 their migration into Thailand is illegal.
According to section 19, ''In
inspecting and considering whether as alien is forbidden from entering the
Kingdom, the competent officer shall have authority to allow said alien to stay
at an appropriate place after promising that he will present himself to the
competent officer to received his orders on a specified date, time and place;
or if the competent officer deems appropriate he may call for bond or call for
both bond and security; or the competent officer may detain aliens at any
place.'' It is in accordance with this section that the people have now been
detained.
Notwithstanding, because Rohingya
migrants entered Thailand because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted
for reasons of race, religion and nationality in Myanmar, the Council of Ministers
may consider a special exemption under section 17 of the act.
Accordingly, I call upon the
government of Thailand to recognise its international obligations in this
instance, and strictly apply customary international law and the
non-refoulement principle, thereby allowing these asylum seekers to remain in
Thailand for the foreseeable future.
I urge that all persons detained be
released into the community, subject to suitable arrangements by the relevant
authorities for the provision of, and monitoring of, accommodation and other
services. I also call on the government to enter into negotiations with
relevant governments and multilateral agencies with a view to making the
necessary provisions for these persons with regard to their fundamental human rights,
and humanitarian concerns.
Lastly, I take this opportunity to
urge the government of Thailand to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees at the earliest possible occasion, in order that it might
fall within the international framework established for the protection of these
persons and others fleeing similar forms of persecution.
I look forward to your prompt action.
Yours sincerely,
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300
THAILAND
Tel: +66 2 288 4000
Fax: +66 2 288 4000 ext. 4025
E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th
2. Mr. Charupong Ruangsuwan
Minister of Interior
Atsadang Road
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +66 2224 6320 ext 50004
Fax +66 2226 4371
3. Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul
Minister of Foreign Affairs
443 Sri Ayudhya Road,
Bangkok, Thailand 10400
Tel - Fax +66 2643 5320
minister@mfa.go.th
4. Pol.Gen.Adul Saengsingkaew
Commissioner General
Office of Commissioner General, Royal
Thai Police, 1st Bldg,
7th Fl., Royal Thai Police, Rama 1
Rd.
Pathum Wan
Bangkok 10330
Tel +66 2251 6831
Fax +66 2205 3738
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission
(ua@ahrc.asia)
A need for dialogue
Many people across Asia are
frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their
countries. Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of
expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police
brutality and military killings. Many others are frustrated with the absence of
rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like.
Yet the expression of this
frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere. People complain among
friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile
basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the
situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor.
Though the media may cover the issues
in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the
average person. And along with censorship ??? a common blight in Asia - there
is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at
least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are
discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is
rarely encouraged in the public realm.
There may also be unwritten, possibly
unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.
Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into
play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the
public space, sometimes very subtly. In other places an inner consensus is
influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social
expression of those less fortunate. Moral and ethical qualms can also be an
obstacle.
In this way, causes for complaint go
unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self
perpetuates. For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need
ways to get these issues into the public sphere.
Changing society
In the past bridging this gap was a
formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money
and were therefore controlled by investors. Printing presses were expensive,
which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money. Except in times
of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline
or misrepresent the poor.
Still, thanks to the IT revolution it
is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost. In this
situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public,
regardless of the class or caste of the individual.
Practical action
The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was
created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by
doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action. If X's
freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z
finds his or her labor rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and
effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to
action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and
follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster.
The Internet has become one of the human rights community's most powerful
tools.
At the core of the Urgent Appeals
Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with
objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on
the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a
team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a
working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of
information - due to domestic restrictions - often goes from the source and out
to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure
for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her
own government. However these cases in bulk create a narrative - and this is
most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights
lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:
''The urgent appeal introduces
narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed
in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film,
former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it
is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis
that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of
human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right,
the organisation will be doing all right.''
Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the
continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to
pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we
are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how
they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have
opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks,
national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies. The program and
its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and
for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical
reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.
Comments