The Stateless Rohingya Blog

The Thai government should quickly decide on temporary shelters for displaced Rohingya people until practical longer-term solutions are reached, says a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Dr Niran Pitakwatchara said he was concerned that the Rohingya refugees were being deprived of basic rights while under temporary care in Thailand. After drifting at the sea and being towed into various islands in southern Thailand since early this year, the migrants have been kept in scattered shelters and detention centres nationwide. Now it is time for the government to decide what to do next, said Dr Niran. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled persecution in Myanmar over the past year and many have ended up in Thailand. They faced poor temporary shelter, exploitation by trafficking gangs, and extortion from smuggling gangs during their stay in Thailand, Dr Niran said at a seminar on the refugee problem. He suggested that something could still be done despite th

Ten Rohingya refugees escaped the Ranong Immigration detention center in a dawn breakout yesterday. Photo: Gazette file PHUKET: Ten Rohingya detainees escaped at dawn yesterday from a detention facility at the Immigration Office in Ranong, the popular visa run destination for many expats and tourists in Phuket. The incident is the latest in a series of Rohingya escapes from various facilities in the past few months. The 10 escapees were part of a group of 118 Rohingya detainees at the facility. The Ranong Immigration Office has begun a manhunt for the 10 runaway Rohingya. "We have handed out their photos to motorcycle-taxi riders, community leaders and local people in a bid to track them down," office chief Ekkorn Bussababordin said, adding that he believed the 10 escapees were still in Ranong. Col Ekkorn said that he would step up security measures at the detention facility to prevent further escapes. Thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan Sta

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN –    A total of 34 Rohingya migrants remain at large after 37 of them escaped from a detention centre in Muang district early yesterday. The detention centre in Prachuap Khiri Khan houses 119 Rohingya. The escape took place around 2am Saturday at the centre in tambon Klongwan, which has two buildings housing 119 Rohingya who were transferred from Phangnga in January. The site is approximately 10 kilometres away from the Sing Khon temporary checkpoint with Myanmar. Weera Sriwattanatrakul, the governor of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, said the security guards at the site had fallen asleep while on duty. More than 200 police and other officials began a search within a radius of five kilometers from the detention site and found three escapers walking along a road. Mr Weera said the government needed to find a solution for dealing with the Rohingya, thousands of whom have fled persecution in Myanmar. Many Rohingya have ended up in Thailand in poor temporary

Rohingya Muslim illegal immigrants gather at the Immigration Detention Centre. THAILAND - Ten Rohingya detainees escaped at dawn yesterday from a detention facility of the Ranong Immigration Office. It is the latest in a series of Rohingya escapes from various facilities in the past few months. The 10 escapees were part of a group of 118 Rohingya detainees at the facility. The Ranong Immigration Office has begun a manhunt for the 10 runaway Rohingya. "We have handed out their photos to motorcycle-taxi riders, community leaders and local people in a bid to track them down," office chief Ekkorn Bussababordin said, adding that he believed the 10 escapees were still in Ranong. Ekkorn said that he would step up security measures at the detention facility to prevent further escapes. Thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan State have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry. In Satun, just two out of 31 Rohingya boys remain in custody at the Sat