Thai FM: Myanmar survivors should not be prosecuted

BANGKOK, April 17 (TNA) - Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama has urged authorities not to prosecute the Myanmar migrants who survived the recent suffocation death tragedy in the southern province of Ranong.
Following the death of 54 Myanmar migrants in a truck transporting them to Phuket, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama suggested the incident survivors of the incident not be prosecuted under law.
Mr Noppadon reasoned the case should not only be seen as an illegal immigration crime, but also one of human trafficking and smuggling. This made it reasonable for Thai authorities to release the survivors without fining them and put them in police custody.
The Minister’s comment echoed that of Sunee Chaiyaros, from National Human Rights Commissioner ( NHRC), who planned to travel to Ranong province to investigate the incident and provide assistance to the survivors.
Ms Sunee said herself and the Lawyers Council wanted to interview the survivors in an attempt to understand the event and gain useful circumstantial information leading to the mastermind behind the smuggling gang. The NHRC also wanted to evaluate whether the tragic incident fell into the category of human trafficking.
Ms. Sunee said their presence and investigation in Ranong would lead to a new 'territory' for human rights work, which involves taking care of human-trafficking victims.
Saying that the migrant had already been exploited by a human trafficking smuggling gang, she maintained it was neither moral nor constructive to detain them, fine each 2,000-baht and deport them, only to have them return to face arrest again.
"I first heard that the migrant job-seeker survivors of the tragedy would be deported to Myanmar today (Thursday)," Ms. Sunee said, noting that she quickly talked with the governor of Ranong and the top social development and human security official to slow the process; the request had been very well granted.
"The ministry will allow us to talk to the illegal migrants tomorrow (Friday)," Ms. Sunee said.
In a related development, another suspected member of the human-trafficking ring was arrested by police.
Weera Yingyuad was reportedly one of a number of job brokers who travelled in the same truck in which the 54 migrants suffocated to death.
Like the other suspects arrested earlier -- Jirawat Sophapanworagul, owner of Choke Charoen fishing pier where the workers entered the truck, and truck owner Damrong Phussadee -- Mr. Suchon was denied bail and taken into police custody.
At least seven suspects are involved in the case, but their names are being with held to protect the investigation, police said.
The tragedy occurred Wednesday as the Myanmar job seekers were being smuggled in a cold-storage truck to jobs in Phuket and Phang-nga resorts. With 121 women and men packed inside the sealed truck for hours, 54 died of suffocation due to an air-conditioning system failure.
The incident has drawn great attention, nationally and internationally, to the plight of migrant workers who are willing to risk their lives escaping the hardship in their country in search of what they think to be a better life. (TNA)-E007

General News : Last Update : 20:46:23 17 April 2008

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