307 Rohingya arrested, face deportation

Immigration police arrested 307 Rohingya migrants yesterday and plan to send them back to Myanmar, a senior police officer said.

Pol Major Thanusilp Duangkaewngarm, an inspector at the Songkhla Immigration Office, said the 307 Rohingya were found hiding in a warehouse in Ban Dannok village in Sadao district on the Thai-Malaysian border.

The arrests came a day after police rescued 397 Rohingya people, who were lured by a human-trafficking gang and detained at rubber plantation Ban Chaikhuan village also in Sadao district.

Meanwhile, Thanusilp said the 307 Rohingya arrested yesterday had travelled to Thailand voluntarily and hoped to use the Kingdom as a transit point to a third country.

The 307 Rohingya - 230 men, 30 women, 22 boys and 25 girls - will be deported because they entered Thailand illegally, he said.

The 397 Rohingya, who were rescued, will be temporarily detained at four immigration offices.

Police have also arrested four Myanmar citizens, two Rohingya and two Thais for allegedly trafficking and illegally detaining the 397.