Rohingya inaction clouds Thailand's reputation

Unfortunately, they don't - and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva seems to be missing an opportunity as he allows only one-sided information to influence his judgement.

 The Democrat-led government claimed it would prove the allegations of pushing nearly 1,000 boat people out to sea, but no credible inquiry body has been set up since the story was broken a week ago.

 Neither independent nor international agencies are able to get access to Koh Sai Daeng island where more than 100 boat people are allegedly being detained.

 Action speaks louder than words. The Foreign Ministry, assigned to do public relations for the government, held a meeting with representatives from the Defence Ministry on Tuesday. However, the foreign ministry's spokesperson provided no substantial progress on the investigation after the meeting.

 To the public's disappointment, Prime Minister Abhisit conveyed only superficial information to reporters, saying the Navy told him its sailors did nothing to violate the rohingya boat people.

The Prime Minister made the nonsense statement to back up a claim his government had no policy of abusing refugees' rights. The message was not different from that made previously by many former Prime Ministers. Even deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose drug war policy killed thousands of people, claimed his government never violated human rights.

Prime Minister Abhisit likely appreciated toadying questions from reporters that the rohingya case was made up to discredit his government, saying somebody personally interested in the rohingya group might have exaggerated the information.

Boat people sometimes arrived in engine-less boats and sank their vessels to get rescued and taken to the Thai shore, he said.

The military, it would appear, had managed to implant security rhetoric into the prime minister's mind with the claim boat people were a threat to national security.It is a common prejudice that Muslim men of rohingya ethnicity take boats from Burma or Bangladesh to help militants in the deep South orchestrate violence. The military keeps an eye on them and often floats information to local media that rohingya insurgents had infiltrated the Muslim community in the deep South. But the authorities have never established a case to prove such allegations.

From their own accounts, rohingya boat people are normal migrant workers. Most fled their homes to seek a better life and usually headed for the predominantly Muslim Malaysia. They preferred Muslim countries where they can live comfortably, rather than Buddhist Thailand, according to President of the rohingya Human Rights Association, Mohammad Noor Shim.

However, there are some 10,000-15,000 Burmese Rohingyas in Thailand currently, mostly living and working in Muslim communities in the deep South, he said.

They have never really harmed Thai people, but authorities don't trust them anyway. Similar to other ethnic groups from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, they are here only to beg for jobs. Some sold all their belonging to raise some Bt10,000 to hire traffickers to facilitate their journey to this new world.

They know the rules of the cat and mouse game that they might get caught upon arrival. "Yes, it is illegal entry. It's normal to get arrested and they can be detained. I cannot oppose that (legal procedure), but pushing them back to sea is unbelievable and unacceptable", said Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Bangkok-based Arakan Project.

Illegal migration is a common problem many countries around the world also face. Arrest, detention and deportation are regular and acceptable features. Food and medical treatment are also basic requirements Thailand can afford to give them during detention. Nobody asks five-star accommodation for them.

Simply by showing that normal procedures were followed, the country's human rights record would be improved.