By: AFP
Published: 28/01/2009 at 01:53 PM The government has "categorically denied" mistreating migrants following reports it towed hundreds of desperate boat people back out to sea and abandoned them.
Survivors say Thailand's military towed hundreds of migrants from Burma's minority Rohingya community out to sea in poorly equipped boats with scant food and water.
But the foreign ministry said such actions had no place in Thai policy.
"As for the serious allegations... including that various forms of mistreatment were inflicted... this must be categorically denied as having no place in policy and procedures," the ministry said in a statement released late Tuesday.
"Nevertheless, should concrete evidence be presented, the Thai government would serious look into such cases and further verification (would be) carried out," it added.
The statement said Thai law required that all migrants arriving along the south west Andaman coastline be stopped, questioned and their needs assessed.
It said those who had not smuggled goods into the kingdom received basic humanitarian assistance before being repatriated or escorted out of Thai territory. Smugglers would be investigated and then ordered out, it said.
Accusations of mistreatment surfaced earlier this month after nearly 650 Rohingya were rescued off India and Indonesia, some claiming to have been beaten by Thai soldiers before being set adrift in the high seas.
Hundreds of the boat people are still believed to be missing at sea.
Abhisit has said authorities were dealing with the boat people in a humane way, but Britain on Tuesday joined the United Nations in expressing "concern" for the migrants' welfare.
The foreign ministry statement said an estimated 20,000 illegal migrants were currently in Thailand and said several thousand arrive each year, calling the issue "a collective problem" for regional countries to address together.
Meanwhile Thai authorities detained a further 78 boat people from Burma who were found off Surin island in the south around midnight Monday, police said.
Source: Bangkok Post
