More than a dozen refugees abandoned by people smugglers have been found in a southern Thai forest, police said yesterday, almost a year after a crackdown which has forced traffickers to find new routes.
Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar’s western Rakhine State – who are forced to live in apartheid-like conditions and are officially called Bengalis by the government – have for years fled their homeland seeking work in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
“Fourteen Rohingyas, including kids as young as a few years old, were found at around 6am,” Police Captain Panuwat Chomyong, a highway officer in central Chumpon province, told AFP.
Smugglers abandoned the group ahead of a police checkpoint, Pol Capt Panuwat said, adding they had initially entered Thailand through Kanchanaburi province, a much more northern entry point than those usually used by traffickers. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
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