Paween to seek asylum in Australia
The police major general who led the investigation into the widespread trafficking of Rohingya Muslim migrants is seeking political asylum in Australia, saying influential figures in the government, military and police want him dead.
Pol Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin arrived in Melbourne earlier this week on a tourist visa, but told an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television programme and the Guardian Australia newspaper he plans to seek asylum.
“I worked in the trafficking area to help human beings who were in trouble,” he told the Guardian. “I wasn’t thinking of personal benefit but now it is me who is in trouble. I believe there should be some safe place for me, somewhere on this earth to help me.”
His asylum claim is likely to hurt the government politically, given its often-trumpeted commitment to cracking down on trafficking. Pol Maj Gen Paween has raised concerns about his safety before, but authorities were apparently unable to calm his fears. In fact, he says his posting to the deep South, where intricate webs of trafficking networks were uncovered, was designed to kill him.
While no response from the regime was available last night, national police spokesman Detnarong Sutthichanbancha said police are investigating Pol Maj Gen Paweeen’s claims and are happy to discuss the probe with him.
Pol Maj Gen Paween quit the Royal Thai Police on Nov 5 after being transferred to the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre in the far South. With his task force having issued 153 warrants and detained 91 people, he said the transfer to the traffickers’ sphere of influence put him in danger.
Pol Maj Gen Paween was asked to head the probe after more than 30 migrant graves were found in an abandoned traffickers camp in Songkhla province on May 1. As more camps were found on both sides of the Thai-Malaysian border, sparking an international outcry, the resulting crackdown spurred the boat-people crisis that stranded thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants at sea.
The probe was closed after Pol Maj Gen Paween submitted his first report in late October. He complained the inquiry was shut down prematurely, saying more suspects were still out there. Police chief Chakthip Chaijinda accepted his resignation on Nov 16 and it took effect on Dec 6. The 57-year-old wasted no time in getting to Australia.
Down under, Maj Gen Paween says that “from the beginning” he was pressured not to pursue the trafficking network too aggressively. “Influential people are involved. There are some bad police and bad military who do these kinds of things. Unfortunately, those bad police and bad military are the ones that have power,” he said.
“By re-posting me to the deep South it means they wanted to kill me,” he said. He fears the upcoming trials will see many of those charged walk free.