Hundreds Died in Rohingya Camps on
Thai-Malaysia Border
Details emerge about ugly trade in people,
camps where 'boat-people' were held in dire
conditions; IOM probing claim that funds
were misused
By Asia Times
July
22, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- More details have emerged about Thailand’s
ugly trade in people now that a marathon
trial has ended in Bangkok with 62 people
convicted of human trafficking and other
serious crimes.
Camps
set up by traffickers in the jungle on the
Thai-Malaysian border to hold Rohingya and
other ‘boat people’ existed for many years
prior to government crackdown in mid-2015
that curtailed the brutal trade, a key
activist group has said.
Freeland, a Bangkok-based non-government
group that fights wildlife trafficking and
human slavery, worked with Thai police to
identify key figures in the smuggling
networks that were rounded up and put on
trial.
The
group said on Friday it “believes that more
than 500 people died in the camps where the
people in this particular trafficking chain
were held, and that the camps were probably
there for at least five years or more.”
It
also had “digital forensics experts” able to
help police access vital data on mobile
phones found on drivers and in cars stopped
with smuggled Rohingya on board. Data on the
phones indicated “the precise route the
drivers had taken on multiple occasions…
[and] filled in pieces of the trafficking
supply chain, and ultimately uncovered the
location of some holding camps.”
The
data also allegedly led to bank transfers to
a senior military officer convicted of
trafficking, Lieutenant General Manas
Kongpaen. Manas, who was sentenced to 27
years jail, was involved in the notorious
‘pushbacks’ affair in December 2008 and
January 2009, when vessels carrying hundreds
of Rohingya were towed back into the Andaman
Sea and set adrift.
A
transcript of the court verdict says that
Manas admitted using funds from the
International Organization of Migration
(IOM) to help pay for the ‘pushbacks’, which
sparked a global furore, as hundreds were
believed to have died at sea.
IOM
investigating claim its funds were misused
IOM
officials were shocked when notified about
this on Friday – and scrambled to go through
its accounts to determine if money was
diverted from projects in southern Thailand.
“IOM
was not aware of this testimony until Asia
Times brought it to our attention,” a
spokesman said late on Friday. “We are now
investigating whether Lt-Gen Manas Kongpaen
could have diverted any money from IOM
humanitarian projects and used it to fund a
criminal operation to tow boats out to sea.
If it transpires that this was in fact the
case, we regard it as reprehensible. IOM has
a policy of zero tolerance on corruption and
if we discover that any of our staff were
involved, we will take appropriate action.”
IOM
had a $1 million migrant health project over
five years (2005-09) split between Ranong
and Samut Sakhon provinces, the spokesman
said. The project “provided basic
healthcare, psycho-social help and some
non-food aid (probably hygiene kits and
clothing) to 200 or so Rohingya migrants who
were detained in the Ranong Immigration
Detention Centre.
“But
there is no record in the accounts of any
payment made to any of the individuals named
in the court proceedings. It seems to us
very unlikely that a significant amount of
money could have been embezzled from either
of these fairly small projects eight years
ago. But we’ll do our best to ascertain
whether there could be any foundation to
Lt-Gen Manas Kongpaen’s claims.”
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Meanwhile,
Australian journalist Alan Morison – an
expert on people smuggling on the Andaman
coast, which he documented extensively on
his website
Phuketwan.com
before a major legal fight caused him to
stop reporting – gave further insights.
Morison said the involvement of senior
officials in the smuggling of people through
southern Thailand was a key factor in why
the trade exploded so dramatically – and
ultimately caused the death of so many
people.
‘Everyone knew
about it’
“Everyone knew about it. And few people
thought it was wrong. We were shown big
houses in Ranong and Kuraburi, where locals
claimed they were constructed from the
proceeds of trafficking.
“Whole
villages in Phang Nga and other areas along
the coast jumped into the people-smuggling
trade because it was so lucrative. Boats
were converted so they could carry many more
people and people gave up dealing in drugs
to get into this,” he said. “And that these
places have been hit very hard by the sudden
end to the trade because they had become
some dependent on the income of people
smuggling.”
Initially, he said, people involved felt
they were doing it for good reasons, but
after a few years “greedy people” appeared
to take over the trade and the treatment of
Rohingya got much worse.
Freeland, headed by American Steve Galster,
said the Rohingya who sought work in
Malaysia were put into three classes by the
traffickers once they arrived at the camps
in southern Thailand.
“Those
in good enough physical condition, young,
male and strong, were sold to be militants
for the opposition party of Malaysia. The
older and weaker were sold as labor to
either to Malaysian rubber or palm oil
farms, or into the fishing industry. A wife
and child could accompany them, as long as
the buyer was prepared to pay more.
“The
third class was the weakest or those with
other means to access money. They included
the ill, old, women and children. They were
kept in the jungle camps and their only
options were either for a relative in
Thailand to pay a ‘ransom’ for their release
or to stay in the camps until they died.
Living on one packet of noodles a day and
river water most people were in the camp
only between 3-6 months.”
The
two-year court trial, which ended with 62
people convicted, was very complex, and
hampered by many serious challenges, but
Freeland was among the groups that lauded
the outcome.
“Despite
the probability that the network extended
beyond the 103 people charged, that 62,
including the most senior ranking among
those accused, have been convicted with long
sentences should be fully recognized in
appreciation of how much sustained effort
and unwavering commitment from critical
members of Thailand’s police force and
justice system this has demanded. It is
especially important to point out how
difficult and dangerous it was for local
police … to pursue the web of
traffickers. These police should also be
congratulated for collaborating with NGOs in
their pursuit of justice.”
But
Galster said: “The Thai Government must
demonstrate that this is not just a
one-off.”
This article was first published by
Asia Times
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