I don't usually blog about my work but in light of my last post on Phuket's accolades in the New York Times travel section, it would be unconscionable of me to not to mention what else is happening in the region.
My colleagues at Phuketwan.com uncovered a story about alleged mistreatment of Rohingya (Burmese Muslim) boat people by Thai military officials on the very same shores that are described as paradise by the NY Times writer.
From Phuketwan:
Rohingya who arrived in Thailand were previously handed over to immigration authorities for processing. However, sources in the Ranong provincial government, police, navy and marine police all said that since late last year, all Rohingya were handed over to the army.
Through the very hard work of my colleagues, we have collected scores of photographs from the Thai navy, Thai Marine Police and regular provincial police of several scenes of arrest and detention of Rohingya men captured in the Andaman Sea, some of which show them lying facedown on the beautiful sandy shores of the small islands that attract thousands of divers and boat tours every year.
My colleagues also confirmed with villagers and military officials that the Rohingya were being taken to an Andaman coast island, fed and given time to recover, then loaded up on boats, towed out to sea, and cut loose into international waters with only paddles.
This claim has been confirmed by Rohingya refugees captured by Indian officials in the Andaman Islands and by those arriving into Indonesian territory, the BBC said.
The Navy yesterday denied that any of this was true. [Update Jan 29: Since then, the army and the government have also issued denials and conflicting accounts of what really happened.]
But the surreal aspect of this situation - where paradise and hell can coexist in one location - really came to light when boatloads of tourists came across this scene on the Similan islands:
[Tourist Andrew] Jones, whose name has been changed for the purposes of this article, described how guards armed with M-16 rifles forced the refugees to lie face down in the sand for at least two hours, then ''whipped'' them about the head with a strap if they tried to sit up or move. The refugees were naked to the waist and bound at their wrists.
Some tourists appeared oblivious to the scenes just metres away, continuing to snorkel and sunbathe. Others who were shocked by the treatment of the men and tried to photograph the incident had their cameras snatched away by angry guards, who deleted the images.
''Some of them [the refugees] were trying to sit up and looked like they were complaining, but they were answered with a whip on the back and head,'' said Mr Jones, a 23-year-old Australian student who is living with his parents on Hong Kong's Gold Coast.
Mr Jones provided photos of the shocking scene to both the South China Morning Post and Phuketwan. He came forward with his account after seeing our reporters' story about the secret 'exile island' program in the South China Morning Post. Here's his complete set of photos.
Phuketwan is continuing to do an excellent job of reporting as the story unfolds. There are still many Rohingya coming to Thailand by boat, in a desperate attempt to escape persecution and hardship in Burma.
The story has now been picked up by BBC, CNN and other news outlets, yet within the Thai media the issue has been given no coverage aside from the sanctioned Navy statement of denial.
There's a lot that could be said about the state of the media in Thailand; I'll leave that to the political bloggers. But it's telling that within the country the complete story is being reported only by a small independent media outlet, and on blogs and forums.
Anyway, I just have to say I am extremely proud to work with people who are so determined to bring stories like this to the world. The Thai reporter in particular was told many times to 'forget' about this story, but she soldiered on regardless.
She is a brave and scrappy woman!
The cynic in me says that nothing will change, but I have a glimmer of hope that now that the plight of the Rohingya is getting some international attention, solutions will be sought and found.
Update Jan 25: South China Morning Post has a video of a boatload of Rohingya being rescued by the Indian coast guard. No one deserves this.
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