PM promises to protect boat people's basic rights

ROHINGYA

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has assured human rights activists his government has no policy to violate the rights of Rohingya boat people.

The prime minister yesterday met activists and gave assurances that Thai officials had not abused Muslim migrants from Burma and other countries.

After meeting Mr Abhisit at Government House, Somchai Hom-laor, chairman of the NGO Coalition for the Protection of Human Rights, said the prime minister assured him state agencies did not use force to coerce the migrants, but had treated them in a humane manner.

Mr Somchai quoted the prime minister as saying there was no policy to mistreat boat people and his government operated on humanitarian principles.

Mr Somchai said human rights defenders had called on Mr Abhisit and his government to crack down on human trafficking gangs believed to be behind the migration of the Rohingya Muslims from the Arakan region of Burma to Thailand.

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban ordered the defence minister to investigate accusations of maltreatment of Burma's Rohingya minority.

Human rights groups have accused the Thai navy of forcing the Rohingya back into the Andaman Sea on a boat with no engine and limited food and water.

Gothom Arya, director of the Mahidol University Research Centre for Peace Building, said both the prime minister and Fourth Army commander Lt-Gen Pichet Visaichorn had confirmed that an investigation must be carried out to find out whether human rights violations had been committed by units under their command.

Mr Gothom quoted Mr Abhisit as saying Thailand had signed the United Nations convention against torture.

He also urged the prime minister to speed up talks on the planned establishment of a regional human rights mechanism at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit set down for Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan late next month.

"As chairman of Asean, Thailand and Mr Abhisit must play a key role in convincing nine other Asean leaders to establish the human rights mechanism for Asean no matter what form it will be, as quickly as possible," Mr Gothom said.

He said the regional human rights mechanism must be independent of the politicians and state authorities of each country and it could be authorised to look into many kinds of human rights violations.

He said establishing such a mechanism would ensure that all Asean member states adhere to international human rights standards.

Angkhana Neelaphaijit, chairwoman of the Working Group for Peace and Justice, said the prime minister pledged to re-investigate the suspicious murders of about 20 human rights activists across the country over the past five years.

"We will closely monitor the government's work [on human rights protection]," Mrs Angkhana said.