16 Myanmar migrants rescued from Koh Nui

The military rescued 16 Myanmar migrants yesterday who were left stranded on Koh Nui in Ranong for three days after they illegally entered the country en route to Malaysia.

Col Phumipat Boonruangkhao, commander of the 25th infantry regiment’s special unit, said Laem Son National Park officials spotted the 16 migrants — of whom seven were women — sitting scattered around the edge of a forest while in a famished condition in Suk Samran district.

The officials handed out assistance and ran health checks on the migrants. A joint investigation was conducted by provincial police and administrative and national park officials.

An initial probe showed that each of the migrants had paid 30,000 baht to Thai brokers to secure safe passage to Thailand with the intention of using it as a transit point to Malaysia, where they planned to find work.

According to local authorities, they boarded long-tail boats from Myanmar’s Kau Saung province and slipped into the kingdom.

The agents took them to Koh Nui where the migrants were told to stay for three days as they waited for transport to take them inland and on to Malaysia.

However, they were left stranded as police had earlier rounded up the Thai agents and 30 other migrant workers on a fishing trawler in tambon Nakha of Suk Samran district.

A number of Thais who colluded with the trafficking gang have faced charges including providing shelter and helping migrants illegally enter the country, which carry punishments under Section 64 of the Immigration Act 1979.

They were also charged with defying the Communicable Disease Act 2015 for bringing the migrants into the country without performing health checks on them.

The migrants are being charged with staying in the kingdom without permission and violating the Communicable Disease Act 2015.

Separately, provincial police in Satun transferred 59 Rohingya migrants, who were found on Koh Dong beach on June 4, to the Immigration Bureau (IB) where they were charged with illegal entry.

According to a police source, they were not victims of a human trafficking ring.

Of them, 26 hold United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards.

Some were taken to Songkhla’s Sadao district, where they were remanded in police custody.

The women and children were waiting for assistance from the provincial welfare office.

They were left stranded on the island after initially travelling by boat from Bangladesh in an attempt to reach Malaysia, said Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, assistant chief of the national police.