Thailand closely watching Rohingya crisis, ready to lend aid
BANGKOK: Thailand’s foreign ministry, in a rare statement on the ongoing crisis in neighbouring Myanmar’s Rakhine state, said it was “closely following the situation” and would provide aid to the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Violence erupted in Rakhine last month when Rohingya militants attacked security posts, triggering a crackdown by the Myanmar army.
More than half a million ethnic Rohingya – a mostly Muslim minority denied citizenship by Myanmar – have fled to Bangladesh since then.
Those who fled accuse Myanmar’s army, backed by Buddhist mobs, of a brutal killing campaign. The United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing a sweeping government offensive in the north of Rakhine State in response to those attacks.
“Thailand is closely following the situation in the Rakhine State with concern,” the ministry said on Saturday.
“The Royal Thai government has always placed great importance on providing care and protection to Myanmar displaced persons,” it added, pointing to some 100,000 refugees from Myanmar who live in nine camps along the ThaiMyanmar border.
But many of those living in the camps are long-term residents who fled conflict decades ago. None are Rohingya, according to non-governmental organisations who work there.
The Thai foreign ministry said its statement was in response to views raised by some human rights groups regarding Thailand’s position on the unrest in Rakhine.
Amnesty International said last week that Thailand must not ”push back” Rohingya fleeing violence and that it should provide refugees formal legal status and protection.
Thailand does not recognise the status of any refugees or recognise the Rohingya as legitimate migrant workers.
Thailand said it supported a statement on the issue by the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), a grouping of 10 nations.
In the statement, Asean foreign ministers condemned the attacks on Myanmar’s security forces and “all acts of violence which resulted in the loss of civilian lives”.
So far, “none of the affected victims from the August unrest in Rakhine state have been found in Thailand”, the Thai foreign ministry said. — Reuters