InfoAnda - Thailand accused of returning asylum-seekers to sea to die

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

China Mobile says 2009 profit up 2.3 percent | 18 March 2010
Five Years Later, New Orleans Community Centers Get Millions | 23 November 2010
Pakistan urges rethinking of U.S. drone attacks | International | | 26 February 2009

Motorola unveils Google phone, carrier deals | Technology | | 11 September 2009

">Forum Views () ">Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Thailand accused of returning asylum-seekers to sea to die

Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: Thailand accused of returning asylum-seekers to sea to die AFP - 1 hour 15 minutes ago PORT BLAIR, India (AFP) - - India said Sunday that hundreds of people were missing at sea, believed to be part of a wave of boat people allegedly dragged out to the middle of the ocean by Thailand and left to die. Thailand has denied the accusations, but accounts of survivors and the latest reports from the Indian coast guard have piled the pressure on Bangkok, and the Thai government said it would meet rights groups on Monday. The Thai navy is accused of detaining the migrants, from a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar, after they washed up on the Thai coast -- and then towing them to sea and leaving them to their fate. India's coast guard said Sunday it had rescued hundreds of the refugees from the Rohingya ethnic group, who live along the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh, but that hundreds more were feared lost. "They said they were taken to an island off the Thai coast and beaten up before being forced into boats and pushed into the high seas," said Ranjit Narayan, a police official on India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands. "We fear several hundred are still missing," coast guard commander S.P. Sharma told AFP. He said India had rescued 446 refugees from four boats since the end of December. Those figures are in line with those of the Sunday Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, which said it had compiled a toll of 538 missing or dead. Sharma said the migrants said they had been arrested by Thai officials and set adrift without engines or navigational equipment. "Some survivors also said their boat was towed out to sea by the Thai navy and given two sacks of boiled rice and two gallons of water before being abandoned in the middle of the sea," he said. The Bangkok Post newspaper on Sunday carried accounts from survivors. "We were tied up and put into a boat without an engine... we were then towed into the high seas by a motor boat and set adrift," a man named as Zaw Min told the paper. Thailand is facing a brutal separatist insurgency in the south of the country that has left more than 3,500 people dead in the last five years, and the government would be sensitive about any mass influx of migrants. But the Thai navy and other government officials have denied the accusations. "Authorities followed the regular process when arresting the illegal migrants," navy spokesman Captain Prachachart Sirisawat told AFP. Yet mounting photographic evidence, and accounts from Western tourists who have recently visited the beautiful sun-dappled islands on Thailand's Andaman coast, have supported the charges. Media reports have shown photographs of people on a beach with their hands trussed above their heads. The United Nations refugee agency said it had contacted the Thai government when the allegations first surfaced last week. "We requested the Thai government take all measures necessary to make sure the lives of the Rohingyas are not put at risk ... We have not had any response yet," said Kitty McKinsey, Asia Pacific spokeswoman for the UNHCR. If the allegations turned out to be true, McKinsey said, Thailand "would be breaching the very basic human rights conventions -- the basic right to life, putting people's lives at risk by towing them out to sea." The Rohingya are stateless and face persecution from Myanmar's military regime, forcing thousands into rickety boats each year to try to escape poverty and oppression and head to Muslim-majority Malaysia. David Mathieson, an expert on Myanmar with New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Thailand had for the past few years taken a harsh stance on Rohingya landing on its shores, in part because they wanted to discourage further migration of the group through Thailand. There were also fears that some are mercenaries trying to join the separatist insurgency, although Mathieson said there was little evidence to back up those claims. "These are really serious allegations that need to be investigated by the UN and the Thai government," he said. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: Asia Pacific Armstrong overcomes pre-race nerves on comebackAFP - 48 minutes ago Peanut butter products in Singapore not from suspected tainted US plantChannel NewsAsia - 53 minutes ago Japan opposition leader renews vow to take powerAFP - 1 hour 8 minutes ago Thailand accused of returning asylum-seekers to sea to dieAFP - 1 hour 15 minutes ago Australian navy intercepts suspected refugeesAP - 1 hour 47 minutes ago Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Zimbabwe unveils $100 trillion banknote 'Dogs don't wear condoms,' says Baywatch star Anderson Israel prepares for ceasefire vote amid Hamas warning Boy George jailed for 15 months for imprisoning escort Hormone drives sexy women to infidelity, says study View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular

Other News on Sunday, 18 January 2009
Christian killed in northern Iraqi city
Hamas vows to fight until Israel leaves Gaza
EU piles pressure as Kremlin hopes for gas crisis deal
Iran says jails accused in U.S.-backed plot: report | International |
Malaysia Islamists in decisive by-election win
Malaysia's opposition wins by-election
NKorea says may retain nukes, raises border tensions with Seoul
Obama calls for new US 'declaration of independence'
Researcher: North Korea has `weaponized' plutonium
Obama calls on America to reject bigotry
Kellogg's Recalls Cracker, Cookie Items As FDA Investigates PCA's Salmonella Outbreak
'Sexting' Leads To Child Porn Charges Against Teens
Obama Calls Bush A 'Good Man Who Loves His Family And His Country'
A look at China's Lunar New Year
Global slump casts a pall over Chinese New Year
International Year Of Astronomy Celebration Marks 400th Anniversary Of Galileo Using First Telescope
Transgender model steals the show in Fashion Rio
Israel begins ceasefire in Gaza Strip
Israeli ceasefire begins in Gaza | International |
Israeli PM declares halt to Gaza offensive
Russia, Ukraine PMs reach gas deal: official | International |
British PM urges banks to come clean over bad assets
Obama arrives in Washington for inauguration
Pilot reported bird impact before crash: officials
Obama sees challenges ahead
7 killed, dozens wounded in Afghanistan attacks
US welcomes Israel's ceasefire declaration
Scientists discover new marine life off Tasmania
Taliban threats close Pakistan schools
Amy Poehler's Spring Breakdown lightens Sundance | Entertainment |
4 stabbed during club's party for 'Notorious' film
Crowd endures cold to cheer Obama in Baltimore
Obama illustration finds place at Portrait Gallery
Amy Poehler's "Spring Breakdown" lightens Sundance
Spike Lee's a Sundance kid with `Passing Strange'
Putin painting auctioned for over $1 million
Gaza rockets hit southern Israel
Gaza rockets hit southern Israel: Israeli TV | International |
Egypt to host international Gaza summit Sunday
One dead, six missing, three survive French 'copter crash
U.S. sends home six Guantanamo prisoners | International |
LG Display says market hit bottom, focus on mobiles
French military helicopter crashes with 10 aboard
China confirms toddler infected with bird flu | International |
New York Times in finance talks with Mexican magnate
Frenchman speaks nonstop for 124 hours to set speech record
Germany's Merkel counts on a boost from state vote | International |
Malaysia government stumbles to another poll defeat | International |
LG Display says market hit bottom, focus on mobiles
Obama inauguration could put a stop to Guantanamo trials
Birds 'filled' windscreen before jet crash: officials
100 in Hong Kong protest Israeli attacks on Gaza
LG Display says market hit bottom, focus on mobiles | Technology |
Zimbabwe's first lady allegedly hits photographer in HK
Japan PM: Will fight to enact economic measures
Lance Armstrong has high hopes for Obama
Thai PM plans cash handouts, village grants
Relative of Macau leader on Interpol wanted list in graft scandal
Taiwan hands out vouchers in bid to lift faltering economy
Indonesia extends search for bodies from ferry disaster
NATO: 1 soldier killed in southern Afghanistan
Detroit auto show opens
China's toy exports hit by global crisis: state media
Amy Poehler's Spring Breakdown lightens Sundance | Entertainment |
Taiwan hands out $2.5 billion in spending vouchers
Tom Cruise says grew up wanting to kill Hitler | Entertainment |
Bright prospects for low-cost airlines in 2009
Economic crisis tames Year of the Ox celebrations in Asia
Rival studios reach deal on 'Watchmen' release
Miyazaki says he can't stand modern animation
Gaza rockets hit Israel despite unilateral ceasefire | International |
Turkey's PM travels to Brussels to bolster EU bid
Russia, Ukraine agree to resume Europe gas supplies
Mugabe urges opposition to accept power-sharing deal | International |
Pakistan troops kill 15 Taliban: security official
Mugabe threatens to break off Zimbabwe talks
Two Pakistani soldiers, 14 Taliban, killed in clash | International |
Tamil Tiger head may have fled Sri Lanka: army chief | International |
Erroneous Western democracy not for China: official | International |
Turkey's PM travels to Brussels to bolster EU bid | International |
Japan PM, opposition rally members as poll looms | International |
Armstrong overcomes pre-race nerves on comeback
Peanut butter products in Singapore not from suspected tainted US plant
Japan opposition leader renews vow to take power
Thailand accused of returning asylum-seekers to sea to die
Australian navy intercepts suspected refugees
Sri Lanka military: Troops take another rebel camp
NTBS Officials Say Preliminary Evidence Consistent With Birds Striking Jet
Japan PM vows to fight to enact economic measures
Obama, Biden And Families Arrive In Washington, Prepare For Tuesday Inauguration Day
Yaacob says Indian Muslim groups have role to play in tough economic times
SKorean president names new ambassador to US
Two Pakistani soldiers and 14 Taliban killed in clash
Landslide at Indonesian mine kills 4; 11 missing
Tom Cruise says he dreams of killing Hitler
US pop star Perry mistakenly given French award
Tom Cruise says he dreams of killing Hitler
Tom Cruise says grew up wanting to kill Hitler
Japan's top CEOs say crisis shows US shortcomings
U.S. welcomes Gaza ceasefire, Iran says not enough | International |
Hamas leader confirms Gaza militants' one-week truce offer
Merkel starts election year in pole position with state vote
Hamas announces one-week truce after Israel ceasefire
Pakistan says will reopen at-risk girls' schools
80,000 households donate 40,000kg of rice for the needy
Thai PM plans cash handouts, village grants
Pakistanis rally against Israeli attacks in Gaza
NTUC says more youths aged under 30 will start feeling impact of downturn
Tiger supremo may have fled, rebels surrounded
Philippines identifies 3 suspects in kidnapping
S’porean wanted by Interpol in connection with Cortina theft
6-Year-Old Boy Dies At Monster Truck Show In Washington
Sri Lanka army seizes camp, says rebels boxed in
FDA: Don't Eat Any Products Containing Peanut Butter, Except Out Of A Jar
Report: Macau leader's relative wanted by Interpol
China's GOME says chairman has resigned after police probe
Cruise too 'stiff' to play would-be Hitler killer
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01