Thailand says it is preparing to shelter those fleeing violence in Myanmar
More than 100 people have been killed since last week’s attacks between Rohingya Muslim insurgents and security personnel in Myanmar.
Thailand will provide shelter to displaced people fleeing the fighting in Myanmar and send them back when they are ready, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
“Thailand’s defense ministry and security are preparing to receive various displaced people,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was quoted as saying. “We will provide them with shelter like in the past ... and send them back when they are ready.” The Prime Minister did not specifically mention Rohingya Muslims.
More than 100 people have been killed since the August 25 militant attacks on police posts in the restive Rakhine state. Militants had targeted 30 police sites at an army base in a coordinated strike. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Violence has been rife in the region, with clashes between Muslim and Buddhist communities.
On August 26, nearly 1,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees, who attempted fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh in the wake of the violence, were stopped by the Bangladeshi security officials at the border.
Myanmar treats Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and does not acknowledge their rights as an official ethnic group. The community has been subjected to violence by the Buddhist majority and the Army in Myanmar. Hundreds have died starving on boats trying to flee the country, while many have settled in and around Jammu and Kashmir. Myanmar’s de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winning laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to stand up for more than 1 million stateless Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.
On August 18, the National Human Rights Commission had issued a notice to India’s Home Affairs Ministry over its decision to deport Rohingya Muslim refugees to Myanmar.