Flight of Thai Muslims raises spectre of refugee exodus
Sep 5, 05 11:33am
The flight of dozens of Thai Muslims across the Malaysian border has sparked fears here that northern Malaysia may face a major refugee problem as the violence in southern Thailand worsens.
Local leaders and villagers in northeastern Kelantan state, where some 131 Thais are being held by authorities after seeking safe haven last week, say they believe many more have sought refuge in predominantly Muslim Malaysia.
"I believe many more traumatized people have entered Malaysia. You must be aware that Muslims in southern Thailand have blood ties with the people in Malaysia," Mohamad Zaki Ibrahim, a state assemblyman in Tumpat district, said.
"Many of those living in southern Thailand have relatives in Tumpat. I think many may be already staying with their relatives to escape the violence," he told AFP. Rantau Panjang is a small, bustling town just across the border from Sungai Golok where a series of explosions last week, targeting a karaoke bar and two hotels, has rocked business confidence and kept tourists away.
Businessmen, traders and taxi drivers complain they are experiencing a sharp drop in economic activity due to the bombings which injured 15 people including a Malaysian tourist.
The upsurge in the violence in the Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand, where at least 900 people have been killed over the past 20 months, is also believed to have triggered the flight of the 131 Muslim Thais.
Complaints of discrimination
The arrival of the group, which includes women and children, is reviving memories here of Malaysia's last refugee crisis - the wave of Vietnamese asylum-seekers that began in the mid-1970s.
"If there is no peace in the southern region, more Muslim Thais are going to come to Malaysia just like the flood of boatpeople from Vietnam," said Mohamad Zaki.
The 131 Thai Muslims have reportedly said they feared for their lives, particularly since Thailand introduced an emergency decree in July that gives authorities sweeping powers. They also suspected that the shooting death of a local cleric had been carried out at the hands of the security authorities. The decree, which has been sharply criticised by rights groups, is designed to stem the wave of violence that authorities and analysts say is a volatile mix of Islamic separatism, organised crime and narco-trafficking.
Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist nation but the five southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia, where an insurgency has rumbled on for decades, are home to the bulk of its minority Muslim community.
Muslim residents in the south have long complained of discrimination by government policies enacted in Bangkok, and being made to feel they were not equal with other Thai citizens.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar last week urged Thailand to restore confidence and safety in the south, in unusually frank comments between neighbours who normally refrain from commenting on each other's affairs.
"We are concerned because we do not want to see the flight of refugees into our country. It is very difficult for us to handle," he said last week.
"I think the responsibility is for the Thai side to ensure that they can overcome the fear, whether real or perceived fear, in the local community in Thailand so that they will not come here."
'We will help them'
Syed Mahazar, 38, a local youth leader from Gual Tok Deh, a small village near Sungai Golok, said the community expected more Thais to enter Malaysia if the violence persisted.
"I think if more bombs go off, more Thai Muslims will come," he said, adding that if that happened, the villagers were fully prepared to house and feed the refugees with whom they share religion, culture and language.
"We are Muslims so we must help them," he said. Pointing to the narrow Sungai Golok river that provides only a flimsy barrier between the two countries, Syed Mahazar said refugees could easily enter Malaysia undetected and then be absorbed into the community.
"You just need to jump on one of the small fishing boats and row across the river," he said.
The damage to the economy on both sides of the border is painfully obvious. Wan Ding, a 23-year-old driver,
said Malaysian tourists were shying away from Sungai Golok where he lives with his family.
"I believe my business will be quiet for at least two weeks," he said as he joined a long queue of motorists waiting to fill their petrol tanks with cheap Malaysian fuel before crossing into Thailand.
Zainur Abdullah, a 42-year-old Muslim Thai, who runs a fruit stall at the Rantau Panjang immigration office, is one of many ordinary people trying to get on with their lives amid the fear and bloodshed.
"I live in Malaysia but every morning I enter Sungai Golok to buy some vegetables and fruits for my business. My body shivers but what choice do I have," she said.
Thai village says hardline policy stokes rebellion
Sep 5, 05 3:34pm
Thai Muslims from the village of Lahan which has declared itself a "no-go zone" to authorities say the government's hardline response to a Muslim insurgency has terrorised and radicalised them.
"So much blood has spilled. My uncle, a religious teacher was shot dead. It is now an eye for an eye. How can I forgive the Thai government?" a 32-year-old man who gave his name as Wan Abdul told AFP.
"Do you expect us to talk peace with the government when we are being killed and terrorised," he asked.
Over the past 20 months almost 900 people have been killed in the southern Thai provinces which are home to the majority of the Muslims living in this predominantly Buddhist nation.
Residents of Lahan, an otherwise nondescript village of several hundred people near the Malaysian border, rose up last week after the shooting death of a Muslim cleric which they suspect was carried out by security officers.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reacted angrily after they formed a human shield to prevent troops from entering and searching their homes - an incident repeated Sunday when they barred access to the provincial governor.
"There
should not be any area in this country which is off limits to officials. Any area that claims they are restricted - I will go there myself," he said last Friday.
Cannot forgive nor forget
But the villagers say that the harsher the response of the Thai government, the worse the violence in the south will become. "Thaksin's use of force has backfired. He has alienated the Muslims," said one resident of the policies which include controversial emergency measures declared last month that give authorities sweeping powers.
"These wounds run deep in our heart. We cannot forget and cannot forgive. This makes a peaceful settlement impossible and fuels the fight for independence," said the 35-year-old rubber tapper.
A few years ago it was difficult to find villagers in the south willing to admit publicly to any sympathy for the Muslim separatist movement which has simmered here for decades.
But despite the climate of fear, some Lahan residents were willing to tell a reporter that with the prospect of peace so remote, they believed the only way to
end the abuses was to take up arms.
"Now, there is no justice for Muslims. If I have the opportunity to take revenge, it will be life for a life. And justice and freedom will only come with full independence," said Wan Abdul.
As well as being the scene Sunday of a stand-off with Narathiwat governor Pracha Techarat who was attempting to visit the family of the slain Muslim cleric Satopa Yuso, Lahan is also one of the villages that spawned a flight of dozens of Thai Muslims across the border to Malaysia last week.
Psychological strain
Those left behind said they were forced to flee because of the financial and psychological strain of the recent upsurge in violence including bombings last week in the Sungai Kolok border town which has hit local businesses hard.
Most people here are poor farmers and traders struggling to make a simple living in a region which has become increasingly militarised. The jitters are reinforced by the highly visible presence of heavily armed Thai soldiers.
At one checkpoint, an armoured Humvee was parked on the road while a half a dozen troops stopped and checked passing motorists. At security posts elsewhere, soldiers with automatic weapons stand guard behind sandbags.
"We are living in fear every day - be it day time or night. We are even afraid to go about our daily work of tapping rubber or to our paddy fields," said the rubber tapper who declined to be named for fear of arrest.
"I do not want to disappear or be arrested for what I will say. It is the truth. We are living in hell but no one is listening to our plight," he said.
"The fear of being arrested or being shot for no apparent reason drove the 131 Thais into Malaysia. More Thais may slip into Malaysia if the atrocities do not stop," he warned.
'Its really scary'
Another rubber tapper, who gave his name as Wan Ismail, said he had witnessed troops surround a nearby village one night.
"They don't come knocking. Just like the US troops in Iraq, the Thai soldiers force their way by smashing the door. It is really scary," he said.
Thai authorities have reportedly accused the militants of shooting the Muslim cleric, saying they had framed security forces in a bid to win the sympathy of villgers, and encouraged the border exodus to internationalise the problem.
But Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar has said that whether the threat is real or imaginary, Thailand must win the support of Muslims in the south, to prevent any more spillovers across the border.
"We hope Thailand will undertake efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Muslims there because it is clear that there is fear," he said on the weekend.
Facilitate independent checks, Thai senator tells Msia
Sep 5, 05 5:23pm
The Malaysian government has been urged to facilitate the work of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations that are carrying out an independent investigation into the exodus of Thai Muslims from the troubled southern provinces to Kelantan.
Thai Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs chairperson Kraisak Choonhavan, contacted today, said he is convinced that those concerned had fled their homes because they felt their lives to be at stake after an emergency law took effect in July. Kraisak, known to be critical of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatras harsh policies in dealing with the Muslim-dominated provinces, was
referring to the fact that 131 Thai Muslims had crossed the border into Malaysia to seek refuge last week.
From our earlier investigations, we found out that people are very afraid they will be killed, he said.
No one would want to leave their home, land, relatives and source of livelihood if this is not absolute necessary.
The emergency declaration gives sweeping power to the authorities and has been condemned by human rights groups.
Since early last year, more than 900 people have been killed at the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
Government to blame
Thai English daily The Nation reported today that mounting tensions in the south have sparked fears of an exodus of Muslims to Malaysia, as residents in a Narathiwat village yesterday again confronted senior government
officials.
It was reported that about 100 women and children blocked the road to Ban Rahan in Sungai Padi district, as provincial governor Pracha Therat headed a delegation to explain the governments position on the flight of the 131 Muslims from that province to Malaysia.
The report quoted a woman who was not named, as saying that the officials were not welcome because the villagers believe security officials killed Sapatoh Yusoh, an imam in the village, last Monday.
After lengthy negotiations, the governor was allowed to see the imams family while villagers conducted prayers loudly at a nearby mosque to alert others to be ready in case of emergency, said the report quoting a villager.
Kraisak attributed a series of incidents in the south to the (Thai) government-sponsored violence.
We have never had this situation before in Thailand. The south has been very peaceful in the past. There were no religious conflicts, he said.
This governments violence has destroyed the freedom we have struggled to attain over the past 30 years. Thailand has turned from a democratic state to an authoritarian state...The people suffering the most now are Muslims.
He said the committee, which he heads, as well as the senate committee on social development and human security and the ad-hoc committee on security in the south - will visit the provinces on Thursday to get first-hand understanding of the situation.
In Kuala Lumpur, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the agency would be sending several officers to Kelantan later this week to meet with the Thai Muslims, with the co-operation of local authorities.
It is standard practice for UNHCR to have access to, and to interview, any group of people who claim refuge in a particular country, said its representative Volker Turk in a statement to malaysiakini today.
UNHCR will be working with local authorities
to offer our assistance in areas where we have special expertise, such as in the area of protection of women and children and in the welfare of these groups, to gather background information and conduct general needs assessment.
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