WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

Word is just getting out that for the past month, the government of Thailand has been engaging in reckless behavior towards Burmese Rohingya refugees.  While the Thai government has never acknowledged the Rohingya as asylum seekers, they are now taking the extreme step of intentionally abandoning hundreds of them at a time in boats that they tow out to sea.  Already, over 300 Rohingya are missing, with new reports coming out every few days of new groups that have been pushed out by the Thai government. 

So far, the Thai government has denied taking any such measures against Rohingya refugees.  However, two separate accounts from a small handful of survivors that were picked up by the Indian Navy tell the same story of abuse and neglect by the Thai Army.  Thanks to our colleagues at the Arakan Project, these stories are being collected and are fueling increasing media interest in this story.  At this point, it may take public shaming in the media to get a reasonable reaction from the Thai government.

This tragedy may also have some benefit in the long run.  ASEAN, the community of Southeast Asian nations, has agreed to place a discussion of the Rohingya on the agenda for a region-wide summit to be held from February 24-26th of this year.  If ASEAN can agree to work with Burma to improve the in-country conditions for Rohingya, including an eventual path to citizenship, it could go a long way towards stemming the refugee tide. Similarly, if the member states can agree that meeting the needs of the Rohingya is a regional problem confronting many nations, then the move towards providing them with legal status and access to basic services could finally be discussed in the open.

Sean traveled to Malaysia and Bangladesh late last year to look at issues facing the Rohingya outside of Burma.  

--Sean Garcia