Palestinians, Somalis arrested during immigration raid

Palestinians, Somalis arrested during immigration raid

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, centre, and senior bureau officers, question some of the Palestinians and Somalis rounded up during a raid on five apartment rooms in Bangkok's Lat Phrao area on Monday morning. (Photo taken from @IMMIGRATION1178 Facebook page)
Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, centre, and senior bureau officers, question some of the Palestinians and Somalis rounded up during a raid on five apartment rooms in Bangkok's Lat Phrao area on Monday morning. (Photo taken from @IMMIGRATION1178 Facebook page)

Twenty Palestinians and two Somalis were arrested for immigration offences during a raid on an apartment building in Bangkok's Lat Phrao area on Monday.

A combined team of police and immigration officers descended on the Mall Suites apartment building on Soi Lat Phrao 144 on Monday morning, after an investigation found Palestinian nationals who had overstayed their visas were hiding there. 

Twenty-two people were detained -- six men, nine women and seven children -- in five rooms on the fourth and fifth floors of the building. Twenty were Palestinians and two Somali nationals.

The Palestinians had overstayed their visas and the Somalis were found to have illegally entered the country. All were taken to the Immigration Bureau office at Soi Suan Phlu.

Most of the Palestinians had been missed by surveys made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC), according to the Immigration Bureau Facebook page. 

The raid was led by Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, chief of the Immigration Bureau. 

Earlier, five Palestinian nationals were caught in the Soi Nana, where they were identified as mafia-like figures.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (16)