End hypocrisy over Rohingya

EDITORIAL

Published: 18 Jan 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

When nearly 850 Rohingya boat people were rescued from their secret shelters in Songkhla's Sadao district this week, the government finally did the right thing by providing them with humanitarian care and allowing them to have access to international assistance.

Up until this week, the country's main policy toward Rohingya boat people was to give them food, water, and fuel before putting them back out to sea so they can continue their journey to Malaysia, which is their main destination, or to deport them by land back to Myanmar.

By chasing them away, either by sea or by land, this policy is equivalent to pushing the Rohingya back into the open arms of human traffickers. If they cannot pay up, they risk imprisonment, torture, or even death back in Myanmar.

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rockderk
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Discussion 4 : 20 Jan 2013 at 10.514
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I would hazard a guess that a lot of document shredding, file disappearing, fat envelopes of cash giving and so on must be underway in certain offices down south in order to stay off the upcoming scapegoat list. Wouldn't want to be a mid-ranking ISOC, or Immigration cop right now.
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boontong
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Discussion 3 : 18 Jan 2013 at 10.403
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Hope OIC and other Muslim Countries will speak up and accept them.
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facts_only
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Discussion 2 : 18 Jan 2013 at 10.092
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"To start with, a local politician in Songkhla and two Rohingya men wanted by the police are just small fry in the Rohingya human trafficking racket. Even so, they have not yet been arrested. The big fish remain unscathed."
Were these individuals trafficking, or helping the Rohingya by offering temporary asylum?
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pjt
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Discussion 1 : 18 Jan 2013 at 07.561
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So is the Thai government going to slow down and be less eager over projects such as Dawei until the Myanmar government gives protection from ethnic violence against the Rohingya in their country which seems to be the basic cause for Rohingya seeking to come via Thailand to escape
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End hypocrisy over Rohingya | Bangkok Post: opinion