123 Bangladeshis rescued in Thailand
At least 123 Bangladeshi jobseekers and 26 Myanmar nationals were rescued in the last two days from Khao Kaew mountain areas and a jungle in Rattaphum of Thailand's Songkhla province near the Malaysian border.
Of them, 117 migrants -- 91 Bangladeshis and 26 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar -- were found in Rattaphum on Friday while 32 Bangladeshis were spotted by Thai police yesterday along the edge of a forest in the mountain.
Ekarat Sisen, deputy governor of Songkhla province, said, "We need to figure out if any of these people are trafficking victims or whether they entered the country on their own. If they are victims of human trafficking, we must hand them over to the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
"Those who voluntarily entered the country illegally will be sent to Immigration Police, and eventually sent back to their country of origin," added Sisen.
Thirteen-year-old Bangladeshi Busri Salam, who was among the 117 migrants, said the group disembarked from a boat in Thailand and trekked for two weeks in the jungle to try and reach Malaysia.
"My brother is in Malaysia. I wanted to go there," he said.
Huddled in a meeting room in Rattaphum, the migrants, including three children, brushed their teeth, slept, prayed and ate, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene. Some villagers came to give them water, rice and fruit.
The authorities yesterday questioned the migrants to see if they were victims of human trafficking.
Meanwhile, Thai police found the group of 32 Bangladeshis -- all males -- walking along the edge of a forest in Tambon Tha Chamuang of Rattaphum.
The men had travelled from Bangladesh and were likely to be part of the same group found earlier this week. They had been abandoned by traffickers while en route to Malaysia, said the authorities.
All of them looked exhausted and hungry. They were later sent to the temporary Rattaphum shelter, where the 117 migrants have been given refuge.
Many of those involved in smuggling gangs are believed to have fled in an attempt to avoid capture during the Thai authorities' current crackdown, leaving their victims to fend for themselves.
Regional police official Maj Gen Puthichart Ekachant said, "So far there have been 199 victims found in Songkhla province alone."
Of those, 74 were Rohingyas from Myanmar and 58 were Bangladeshis while the background of 67 was yet to be determined, he added.
Some 33 bodies, believed to be of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, were found in shallow graves in Songkhla this month. Three suspected trafficking camps were also found.
Thailand is racing to meet a deadline for uncovering camps, used for human trafficking, within its borders.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced a 10-day deadline for crackdown on the illicit trade. On Friday, Prayut called for a three-way meeting with neighbours Malaysia and Myanmar to try to tackle it.
Thai police were seeking court permission to arrest 20 suspects, in addition to the warrants issued earlier for 29 others allegedly involved in trafficking migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, Deputy National Police Chief General Aek Angsananont said yesterday.
So far 11 suspects have surrendered or been arrested.
[Sources: The Nation, ANN, Bangkok Post and Reuters]
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