Thai PM holds talks over alleged migrant abuse
Thai PM holds talks over alleged migrant abuse
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Monday, 19, Jan 2009 09:08
Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva met with human rights officials today to discus allegations the country's navy sent hundreds of migrants out to sea with little or no supplies.
Human rights groups claim up to 1,000 members of a Muslim group from Myanmar washed up on Thai shores last year, only to be then taken out to sea and left with minimal food and water.
The Thai navy has continually denied the allegations while deputy prime minister Suthep Thauggsuban confirmed an investigation had been launched.
Mr Abhisit met with members of the National Human Rights Commission on Monday to discuss the alleged abuse.
Hundreds of members of the Rohingya ethnic group were rescued in water near India and Indonesia, but hundreds more are feared dead.
Indian officials claim some of the migrants reported being beaten by Thai soldiers and sent back out to sea.
"They said they were taken to an island off the Thai coast and beaten up before being forced into boats and pushed into the high seas," the BBC quotes Ranjit Narayan, a police official, as saying.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has reportedly expressed concern about the reports.