Thailand offers to host regional meeting on Rohingyas

Permanent secretary Virasakdi Futrakul yesterday discussed the idea with ambassadors from Bangladesh, Burma, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The ministry invited the ambassadors to meet after pres¬sure on the government over the Navy's alleged humanrights vio¬lations against the rohingya last month.

The Navy stands accused of pushing some 1,000 boat people back out to sea and then aban¬doning them with almost no food or water.

The government denies the allegation and regards the rohingya as illegal migrants who were being smuggled into the Kingdom by a humantrafficking syndicate.

Stateless Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group, often travel by boat from Burma or Bangladesh to seek a better life in Southeast Asia. They prefer Muslim countries rather than predominantly Buddhist ones like Thailand.

However, Thailand now hous¬es some 20,000 Rohingya, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat.

He called illegal migration a regional problem requiring inter¬national cooperation.

"We want to have a meeting [with relevant countries] to share intelligence information and stan¬dard operating procedures," Tharit said.

Ambassadors at yesterday's meeting promised to convey the proposal to their governments and reply as soon as possible, he said.