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Published on November 18, 2007

 In a major embarrassment to the military in the South, the Fourth Army commander Lt-General Viroj Buacharoon has decided to lift his executive order that removed 384 young Malay Muslim men from their homes.

The 384 included young men who were ordered to sign up for a four-month job-training project in Army-run camps in the upper South, as well as those who were ordered to stay out of the region for six months. Viroj had deemed them to be likely to be involved in insurgency activities and decided to use his authority under the controversial Emergency Law imposed on the region to send them for job training or to ban them from their homes. As there was not enough evidence to charge these individuals, the Army decided to either ban them or sent them to job-training schemes.

Buses are scheduled to arrive at Army camps in Surat Thani and Chumporn provinces to transport the men from Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four Malay-speaking districts in Songkhla back to their villages.

The move effectively ends the much-boasted military project that has been strongly criticised by rights groups on legal and humanitarian grounds.

The Fourth Army's commander could not be reached for comment.

One of the leading campaigners for the release of the men, Angkana Neelapaijit, said she welcomed the move and that relatives of the 384 "detainees" were delighted at the news that their sons and nephews would be allowed to return to their homes.

Most if not all of these men in the now-defunct job-training scheme were rounded up during military raids on their villages over the past three months.

Rights groups took their case to the courts and earlier this month, the courts ruled in their favour, saying the Army's actions in sending residents to the camps may not have been unlawful, but the men taking part in the job-training scheme could return home if they wished.

In spite of the court rulings, many of the young men who had left the camps after the court rulings were afraid to return home for fear that they would be arrested on charges of violating the Fourth Army's order. About 180 had been taking refuge in a central mosque in Surat Thani, according to Pornpen Khongkachornkiet, a member of the Working Group on Justice for Peace and a human-rights advocate working in the South.

Viroj's decision to lift his executive order should be guarantee enough for their safe return, she said.

The Nation