Govt wants Thailand to ensure safety of citizens in troubled south
Sep 2, 05 6:49am
Malaysia today said it was concerned about the recent flight of Thai Muslims over the border, and that Thailand should ensure the safety of its citizens in the troubled south to prevent more from coming.
"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," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.
"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," he said.
Some 131 Thai Muslims crossed over into Malaysia's northeastern Kelantan state on Tuesday and took refuge in several mosques, saying that they feared for their safety in their country, where a Muslim insurgency is raging.
In unusually frank statements between neighbours who normally do not comment on each other's internal affairs, Syed Hamid said there was "no denying that the situation in Thailand is still not safe, it is still not stable".
"If their safety and security is assured then I think the question of them coming to Malaysia will not arise," he said.
Syed Hamid said he had spoken to his Thai counterpart Kantathi Suphamongkhon about reports of extrajudicial killings by Thailand's army in the south, which is now operating under an emergency decree.
"I have spoken twice to the Thai foreign minister and I think he has told me there is no truth. I'll be trying to get reports on our own to see what exactly is happening," he said.
Innocent civilians
The minister said that Malaysia was allowing the group of 131 Thais to stay in the country pending investigations over their status and their reasons for crossing over the border.
"The initial report that we have seems to suggest that they fear for their lives and that they have decided to come to this side, even though my colleague in Thailand has denied that they will be harmed," he said.
"The Thai side has asked us whether we can send them back, so we will look into it. We just cannot chase people away, we have to look into it," he said.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Friday that some of the 131 displaced people were Islamic militants who were trying to "internationalise" the unrest by crossing into Malaysia.
However, Kantathi apparently contradicted the prime minister by saying that the Thai Muslims were innocent civilians acting on rumours spread in the region, where almost 900 people have been killed in the past 20 months.
Thai PM says rebels "internationalising" conflict with flight to Malaysia
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Photo: AFP Click to enlarge |
Malaysian police have said that the displaced people, including women and children, insisted they were escaping the violence in the troubled region where almost 900 people have been killed in the past 20 months.
But Thaksin said that at least some of them were linked to the insurgency raging in the southern provinces bordering mainly-Muslim Malaysia.
"Some of them are militants in disguise. They are trying every possible way to internationalise the unrest issue but we and the Malaysian government are cooperating closely and there is no problem," he said.
However, Thai Foreign Minister Khantathi Suphamongkhon apparently contradicted the prime minister by saying that the displaced people were innocent civilians.
"As far as I know those who fled into Malaysia are innocent. They heard rumours which are not in line with the facts, and may have been spread by a certain group of people," he said, without elaborating.
Kantathi said that the 131 Thais, who did not have any travel documents and are being dealt with by Malaysian immigration authorities, would be brought back to Thailand.
Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Thursday that the country was prepared to provide temporary shelter to the Thai illegals if the situation continued to be unstable, but would not recognise them as asylum-seekers.
Thaksin said that the government would act to halt any repeat of the wave of bombings that rocked the region in the past few days, with about 20 blasts that killed one policeman and 21 others injured.
"This is their retaliation in response to arrest warrants being issued for their key members -- we have to work harder," he told reporters.
Thaksin urged mobile phone operators to introduce new technology to prevent bombs being detonated by mobile phones, saying he wanted it to be in place within two months.
"The situation is worsening, so we have to work on this technical issue," he said, complaining that some operators were "reluctant" to invest in the system that would operate in the three worst-hit provinces.
Thaksin also slammed residents of Lahan village in Narathiwat province who have declared their community a "no go" zone for security authorities, and formed a human shield to prevent them from entering and searching their homes.
"This issue must be resolved, 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.
The Bangkok Post said Friday that the Lahan villagers had risen up after the shooting death of a Muslim religious cleric there earlier this week, which they suspected was carried out by security officers.
Violence in the region continued Friday, with a bomb blast in Narathiwat that wounded three members of the security forces, a senior Buddhist monk and a Muslim villager.
The security forces had been escorting the monks as they went on their daily rounds begging for alms and the device, hidden in a garbage bin, exploded as the group walked past, police said.
"Private Sompong Kongkaeo was in the most critical condition as his two legs were blown off and shrapnel hit his body," Colonel Nukul Kraithong, superintendent of Narathiwat's Muang district police station, told AFP.
Detained Thai Muslims say they were fleeing violence
Sep 1, 05 9:49am
The police said today they have detained 131 undocumented Thai Muslims, including women and children, who said they fled across the border to escape violence in Thailand's restive south.
The group, including nine women and 16 children, sought refuge on Tuesday in several mosques in Kelantan which borders Thailand, said state police chief Zulkifli Abdullah.
"They came in without travel documents and we have handed them over to the immigration department for further action," he told AFP.
Zulkifli said the Thais had told police that they feared for their safety in their home provinces, where a Muslim insurgency is raging. Nearly 900 people have died in the Thai south over the past 20 months.
"They are just worried about their safety but as far as police are concerned, we are worried about them coming in without documents," he said.
One of those detained, identified as Salleh, told the official Bernama news agency that they fled after the army entered their village in Thailand's Narathiwat province two days ago, and a village chief was shot dead.
Zulkifli said Malaysian police had tightened security at all border points.
"We have our patrols working around the border so we will tighten the security around there," he said.
24-hour patrols
News reports quoted the police as saying they feared thousands more Thai Muslims could cross over the border in the next few days, but Zulkifli said he "cannot say for certain" if others were expected.
Marine police in the area said they were carrying out 24-hour patrols along the country's northeastern coast near the border with Thailand.
"Four boats with 16 marine officers and personnel are mounting patrols on rotation," marine police commander Ahmad Abu Bakar was quoted as saying by Bernama.
The violence in southern Thailand has flared anew with a series of bomb blasts and shootings across the troubled region leaving three people including two policemen dead and 21 injured since late yesterday.
- AFP
SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: KL shelters fleeing Muslims
Published on September 02, 2005
131 Thais flee to mosques in Kelantan after confrontation with troops on Monday; spate of bombs yesterday
Malaysia has offered temporary shelter to 131 Thai Mus-lims who fled across the border to Kelantan on Tuesday after losing faith in the governments ability to protect them.
Meanwhile, three people were killed and 23 injured in a spate of bombs and violence that lasted 24 hours in the strife-torn region.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said his government would prepare shelter for Thai Muslims if the situation continues.
Malaysia was concerned about the problems faced by people in Thailand, he said, given the long and close ties between the two countries.
However, we are not meddling in Thailands domestic affairs, he said.
Two groups of Muslims 64 men, 24 women and 43 children have been staying illegally at two mosques in Kelantans Kota Bharu region since Tuesday. They told Malaysian media that they sought refuge after a confrontation with Thai soldiers on Monday.
Abdulrohman Abdulsamad, chairman of Narathiwat Islamic Committee, said information he received indicated that part of the group fled from Ban Rahan in Narathiwats Sungai Padi district.
They were confronted by the army on Monday when villagers barred officials from entering the village to investigate the murder of an old imam (religious leader), he said.
Many people, including children and women, sat on the road to block the soldiers because they didnt trust the officials and believed they might have been involved in the shooting, Abdul-rohman told The Nation in a phone interview.
Many of them ran away from home because the officials threatened to punish them for obstucting their work, he said. The governments blacklist of over 200 Islamic militants had frightened the villagers, he said.
More than half of the people on the list, which was seen by The Nation, are residents of Narathi-wat province.
Narathiwat Governor Pracha Therat said 10 per cent of the villagers who fled are key militants who frequently cross the border to Malaysia to cause trouble. The rest, he said, are just normal job seekers.
Few of them are linked to the incident at the village, he said.
Its just propaganda made up by the militants to create the false impression that the authorities hurt Muslims, he said in a phone interview.
Some of the people in the group were from several districts in the provinces, including Sungai Padi and Joh I Rong, he said. They crossed the border at Tak Bai and Sungai Kolok.
However, Abdulrohman questioned the governors assessment and said their refuge looks neither like an insurgent hideout nor a place for normal job seekers.
The religious leader offered to help the authorities to identify the group and persuade them to return home.
Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon instructed the Thai consulate in Kota Bharu to contact the group and coordinate with the Malaysian authorities to verify the villagers identity.
We are working with Malaysia to find the best option to solve
the problem. The government will definitely protect Thai nationals, he said.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee - The Nation
Tiga terbunuh, 21 cedera dalam letupan bom di selatan Thai
Sep 1, 05 2:00pm
Terjemahan Tiga orang termasuk dua anggota polis terbunuh dan 21 orang lagi cedera dalam satu siri letupan dan kejadian tembak-menembak di wilayah selatan Thailand yang sedang bergolak.
Menurut polis, tiga letupan berlaku hampir serentak di bandar Sungai Golok, di sempadan Malaysia, yang mencederakan 15 orang termasuk empat orang cedera parah.
Bahan letupan tersebut mula meletup pada jam 8.35 malam pertama di sebuah karaoke dan disusuli dengan letupan di dua buah hoteal Hotel Plaza dan Hotel Genting.
Mangsa yang tercedera termasuk seorang pelancong lelaki rakyat Malaysia yang dikenali sebagai Ah Hua, yang cedera di perutnya selepas terkena serpihan letupan, dan seorang pekerja rakyat Laos yang tidak disebut namanya.
Di Wilayah Pattani pula, seorang yang disyaki anggota kumpulan pemisah Islam, memasang sebelas butir bom di dua jambatan dalam cubaan untuk meletupkannya di daerah Nongchik.
"Terdapat sebelas butir bom yang diikat pada tiang kedua-dua jambatan tersebut, tetapi hanya beberapa sahaja yang meletup, kata Gabenor Pattani, Cherdpan Na Songkhla. Tiada yang cedera dalam letupan tersebut.
Anggota polis terbunuh
Panglima tentera Thai bagi wilayah selatan, Lt-Jen Kwanchart Klaharn berkata, anggota militan telah meningkatkan serangan bom di wilayah selatan yang bersempadan dengan Malaysia berikutan peningkatan gerakan yang dilancarkan oleh pihak berkuasa.
"Terdapat beberapa kejadian letupan bom baru-baru ini kerana puak militan mahu memperlihatkan kemampuan mereka dan untuk membuktikan yang mereka masih mampu melancarkan serangan, katanya kepada pemberita.
Dalam kejadian letupan ketiga, seorang pegawai polis yang sedang mengiringi guru-guru ke sekolah terbunuh dan rakannya dan dua orang guru cedera dalam satu letupan di daerah Sungai Padi dalam wilayah Narathiwat awal hari ini.
Menurut polis, Sarjan Thaworn Raknim mati dalam letupan di tepi jalan ketika dia dan seorang anggota polis, yang tercedera, sedang mengiring guru-guru ke sekolah.
Sebutir lagi bom yang dipasang di pasu pokok di bandar Narathiwat, meletup awal hari ini dan mencederakan tiga orang penduduk.
Umat Islam ditahan
Menurut polis lagi, dalam satu lagi kejadian, seorang pegawai polis peronda lebuhraya ditembak mati di wilayah Pattani ketika sedang berkawal di sebuah pondok kawalan di lebuhraya Pattani-Hat Yai pada malam Rabu.
Dan di Wilayah Yala, seorang guru agama, Abduloh Malee, 38, ditembak di kepalanya oleh dua penembak awal hari ini, ketika dia dalam perjalanan ke Sekolah Agama Pattana Wittaya. Dia mati ditempat kejadian .
Manakala laporan di Malaysia pula menyebut kira-kira 131 umat Islam Thailand, termasuk wanita dan kanak-kanak, melarikan diri dari wilayah yang bergolak itu di mana 900 orang terkorban sepanjang tempoh 20 bulan lalu.
Menurut agensi berita Bernama, mereka dilaporkan kini berlindung di beberapa buah masjid di Kelantan yang bersempadan dengan Thailand.
Akhbar New Straits Times pula memetik sumber-sumber yang berkata, mereka bimbang beribu-ribu lagi penduduk selatan Thai akan menyeberang ke Malaysia dalam tempoh beberapa hari akan datang.
- AFP
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