Malaysia said yesterday that it would not hand over the 131 Thai Muslims who fled across the border last month unless their rights are guaranteed by Bangkok.

“We will not release them to Thailand except if we have an assurance that their human rights are not being infringed upon by the Thai government,” Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said.

“We have not decided what to do [with them] . . . this depends on proof against them later and whatever assurance of their future.”

Najib said any decision mainly Muslim Malaysia made about the Thais, such as sending them to a third country, would be based on the principles of human rights and the rule of law.

In Bangkok, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said the government would work closely with Kuala Lumpur to solve the problem and ensure the safety of the 131 Thai Muslims.

He said some of the refugees expressed an interest in returning home but the government needs more time to verify their nationality as most of them did not have any form of identification.

The case of the 131 has pitted Thailand against the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Malaysia because Bangkok is afraid that any form of protection from the world body would automatically internationalise the issue in the Muslim-majority south. Bangkok was furious at Malaysia for permitting the UN agency to get involved with the 131, who reportedly fled because of fear of unrest in their community.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this month lashed out at the UN at its headquarters in New York, accusing the world body of disrespecting Thai sovereignty and permitting itself to be a political tool of the insurgents.

The 131 are being kept at a holding centre in northern Malaysia where the UNHCR interviewed them. However, the agency remains tight-lipped about its findings and the status of the 131.

“We believe any public declaration on these individual cases would just complicate an already difficult situation,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said.

“We are confident that both governments are working in the best interests of the 131 Thais,” he said.

Agence France Presse,
The Nation
Kuala Lumpur

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Fresh strategy urged for South

Published on September 29, 2005 - The government was yesterday urged to map out a new strategy for the deep South – and not rely on foreign ideas to cope with “the age of new conflicts” in the region.

There are a variety of dimensions to the conflict in the predominately Muslim region, Chulalongkorn University political scientist Panitan Wattanayagorn told a seminar at the university.

The US policy of handling the war on terror by emphasising shock and awe, retaliation, pre-emptive strikes and regime change is not necessarily wrong, but is not applicable to the situation in Thailand, said Panitan, who hails from the deep South.

Although the US is now adjusting its policies to deal with terrorists and the Islamic world by persuading moderate Muslims to play a crucial role in fighting extremists, Thailand still needs its own policies, he said.

His Majesty the King has promoted a path of “understanding, reaching out and development” for the region, which the government needs to adopt and develop, he said.

Administrative structures, apparently copied from abroad, are too complex to work in the South.

He said the handling of the hostage drama at Ban Tanyonglimo last week, in which two marines were murdered, showed that elaborate structures did not work.

The government has commissioned the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to map out a peace-oriented strategy to deal with the violence in the region. The body will submit its plan to the government by February next year.

Ukrist Pathmanand, an academic from the Institute of Asian Studies, said the NRC’s platform was contrary to the government’s policy and questioned whether the plan would be accepted and implemented by the administration.

NRC member Worawit Baru admitted the commission was struggling to formulate the strategy as the government tended to use violence to curb violence.

The basic principle of the NRC’s strategy is that the government must accept the truth and install justice for local people, he said.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

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Woman held over marines murder

Published on September 29, 2005 - One woman was arrested yesterday and another detained for questioning in connection with the beating to death of two marines in Ban Tanyonglimo last week, the commissioner of the Ninth Police Region said.

Pol Lt-General Adul Saengsingkaew said Yenah Kaseng, 53, was arrested and Meenoh Mahama, 33, was brought in for questioning.

Police issued three more arrest warrants for one male and two female suspects, bringing to five the number of women linked to the gruesome murders.

The police also detained four men yesterday, three of whom were linked to the brutal deaths in the remote southern hamlet. The three were identified as Tuanphanee Tuankusripoe, Doramae Haji Thaseh and Useng Saleh. The fourth man, Adulsuku Bungor-isa, was detained because he was found in possession of a home-made gun and a document that appears to promote separatism in the Muslim-majority region.

All those arrested and brought in for questioning in connection with the murders were residents of Tambon Tanyonglimo, official documents showed.

Lt-General Kwanchart Klaharn, commander of the Fourth Army Area, said the arrests and detentions showed that the authorities were working hard to get to the bottom of the brutal crime.

He said the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan should see a decline in insurgent violence because “it’s a peaceful month”. He did not explain how he came to that conclusion.

The arrests come at a time when violence is occurring almost daily in the deep South. More than 1,000 people have been killed since the violence erupted in January last year.

Wicharn Athigapan, president of the Southern Border Teachers Federation, said 88 education professionals have been killed since the violence began, including eight executive staff, 20 teachers and 60 school personnel.

Although the government has tried several measures, including the controversial emergency law, the violence continues unabated.

Five more people were wounded yesterday, including a three-year-old boy, in three separate shootings.

In Pattani’s Yarang district, two gunmen opened fire on former ranger Sakariya Buenae, 40, his wife Ae-loh Buenae, and their son.

Sakariya was seriously wounded as a bullet hit his chest. The child was also severely injured when his head hit the road as the motorbike fell.

Thanunoi Rangsiyosai, 36, a school security guard, was shot in the same district while riding his motorbike home. The Ban Takae School guard was shot by two gunmen on a motorbike.

In Ma-Yor district, newly appointed chairman of the Tambon Patoh Administrative Organisation, Doloh Deng, 59, was shot while riding his pickup truck to work. Two gunmen on a motorbike opened fire with a 9mm pistol and hit the victim in the right arm and body.

Investigators attributed the shootings to insurgents but they are also considering political conflicts as the reason for the last shooting.

Amornrat Khemkhao
The Nation
Narathiwat