Survivors of container accident to be deported soon

Nay Thwin

Thursday, 01 May 2008 19:46

Chiang Mai – Over 60 lucky survivors from among the illegal Burmese migrant workers from the road mishap in Thailand will be deported back to Burma soon. 121 Burmese migrant workers illegally entered Thailand on April 9 of whom 54 died of asphyxiation on the way in a container truck. The 67 lucky survivors are being detained in Ranong Immigration detention centre. The Thai government is arranging to deport them to Burma within two weeks. The workers have officially given their power attorney to  the Thai Bar Council to represent their case. This Thai Law Firm will do all that is necessary to redress the grievances of their clients. The Ranong court will start hearing the case tomorrow. The news of deportation of the Burmese to Burma surfaced after negotiations between the Thai Law Firm and the Thai authorities in Ranong over the past two days. Kawthaung District Judge, Coastal Region Police Col., a delegation sent by Naypyitaw (Burma's capital) reached Ranong last Tuesday and they guaranteed the safety and security of the survivors when they are sent back to Burma. "The Burmese delegation guaranteed the Thai authorities that the survivors will not have any difficulty in Burma when they are sent back and they also asked Thai authorities to send the Burmese survivors back to Burma as soon as possible. They also promised us that the survivors will be brought back to Thailand when the Thai court wants to examine them as witnesses in the hearing", Ko Maung Ko, member of Grassroot Human Rights Education Institute, told Mizzima. It is learnt that the workers themselves want to go back to Burma. "We cannot do it against their will. They themselves want to go back to Burma and are talking about it all the time. So we cannot restrict them and block them from going back to Burma", he said. The 121 illegal migrant workers were transported to southern Thailand by a seafood container vehicle. About half of them died of asphyxiation near Sutsumrum on their way to Pukhet. Though the driver and owner of this truck are in custody, the human traffickers are still at large. The Thai government first arranged to try the Burmese in a Thai court, but the human right group protested. Then the Thai government announced on April that they would not take any action against them. Most of these ill-fated migrant workers are from Kyaikto, Moulmein, Thaton, Chaugson townships of Mon State. < Prev   Next >