Thai Police Net Hundreds of Burmese Migrants

Dozens of Burmese migrants are being arrested daily in southern Thailand by police who say they are looking for looters, said NGO workers.

More than 600 Burmese migrants have so far been reportedly rounded up in daily police sweeps through Thailand’s tsunami-ravaged southern Phang Nga province, Htoo Chit, a Burmese NGO worker, said Tuesday.

Burmese migrants doubly hit by tsunami and authorities.

Htoo Chit is co-ordinating relief work among Burmese migrants undertaken by the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, or HREIB.

He said 30 Burmese were arrested Monday alone in Khao Lak while hiding on a construction site.

The HREIB recently reported that migrants had gone into hiding because they feared arrest for failing to have papers allowing them to work and stay in Thailand. Many migrants lost their papers in the tsunami.

Htoo Chit said among those arrested Monday was a mother of an 15-month-old child. The woman, identified as Wai Zin, had suffered an abortion during the tsunami.

“They are not thieves,” Htoo Chit said after interviewing the arrested Burmese. “Look at Wai Zin. She is actually a victim, who was discharged from hospital two days ago.”

Thai media recently quoted police officials saying seven of 27 suspected looters arrested in the province were Burmese migrants.

Htoo Chit maintained some Burmese had been cheated by Thais who hired them to carry looted goods for them.

There are an estimated 30,000 Burmese migrants are in Phang Nga. Officially registered migrants in six southern Thai provinces, including Ranong and Phuket, number 60,000.

Many of the arrested migrants are being taken to Ranong and repatriated to Kawthaung in Burma, Htoo Chit said.

As of Jan 8, the HREIB office in Khao Lak, has documented 156 dead Burmese and established contact with 560 migrant workers affected by the Tsunami in Phuket and Phang Nga districts.

The HREIB estimated that the total number of Burmese killed by the tsunami is between 700 and 1,000.

Thai official estimates put the number of casualties in Thailand at 5,291 dead and 3,616 missing. Most of the casualties were in Phang Nga, where more than 4,000 people died and 2,100 are still missing.