Thesun 2009-02-04 Page10 Myanmar Migrants Thais Cast Us Adrift

10 

theSun

news without borders

| WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4 2009

Myanmar migrants: Thais cast us adrift BANDA ACEH: About 200 Myanmar migrants found adrift off Sumatra told rescuers they had been towed out to sea and abandoned to their fate by Thai security forces, an Indonesian navy officer said yesterday. They said 20 others had perished as they drifted at sea for three weeks in a wooden boat with no engine. Fishermen found them huddled in the boat off Sumatra on Monday afternoon, said navy officer Tedi Sutardi. The migrants, from Myanmar’s

minority Muslim Rohingya community, said they had been cast adrift by Thai security forces as they tried to flee persecution in Myanmar. They showed scars from beatings they said they had received at the hands of the Thais, matching similar allegations from another group of 174 Rohingya who were found off Sumatra on Jan 7. “Fishermen found a wooden boat without an engine drifting in the sea with 198 Myanmar migrants. They said Thai authorities towed them out

to sea and set them adrift,” Sutardi said. “Their boat was small. It’s only 12m long and 3m wide and was held together with ropes. “They were drifting for about 21 days. Most of them are in critical condition and are receiving treatment at a hospital in Aceh.” Using limited Malay, the Bengalispeaking migrants said they had left their homes in Myanmar’s western Arakan state because they were being forced to embrace Buddhism.

They said the military authorities in the mainly Buddhist country chopped their fingers off if they tried to pray. Myanmar’s military rulers effectively deny citizenship rights to the Rohingya, leading to abuse and contributing to a regional humanitarian crisis as hundreds try to flee the country by boat every year. Reports and a local human rights group have said nearly 1,000 of the Rohingya landed on Thai shores late last year, before being towed

Expert warns of big bird-flu outbreak in China HONGKONG: Experts were carrying out tests yesterday on dead birds washed up on Hongkong beaches amid fears of a huge unreported avian-flu outbreak in neighbouring mainland China. The discovery of the dead birds – which were being tested for H5N1, the bird-flu strain that can be deadly in humans – brought a warning from one of the territory’s top bird-flu experts that “something very terrible” could be happening in China. Three of 12 birds found on the island of Lantau in the past five days have tested positive for H5N1. Villagers on the island said dead birds have been washing ashore in recent days and they believe they come from China’s Pearl River Delta, which flows out into the South China Sea surrounding Hongkong. On Monday alone, the carcasses of one goose, five chickens, a duck and two birds were found, bringing to 12 the number of dead birds found on Lantau since Thursday. China has in the past hushed up outbreaks of bird flu and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which was rampant in southern China before it spread to Hongkong and other countries around the world in 2003, killing hundreds of people.

out to sea and left with few supplies in separate groups in mid and late December. Sutardi said the migrants found on Monday had confirmed those reports, putting their number at 1,200. Until Monday only about 650 had been found in Indonesian and Indian waters, all telling the same stories of abuse by the Myanmar and Thai authorities. Bangkok denies the allegations of abuse, saying that all the migrants were processed humanely. – AFP

briefs Shanghai official gets life for corruption SHANGHAI: A former leading official in Shanghai’s Pudong skyscraper district has been sentenced to life in prison for corruption, state media reported yesterday. A Shanghai court convicted Kang Huijun, 52, of taking more than 5.9 million yuan (RM2.95 million) in bribes and illegally acquiring 12.1 million yuan (RM6.1 million) through other means, the Xinhua news agency reported. Kang was director of the district’s economic and trade bureau and general manager of state-owned property developer Shanghai Lujiazui (Group) Co. Ltd, before becoming deputy district head in 2004, the report said. – AFP

Sri Lanka takes Tiger chief’s bunker, airstrip Eight people in China were reported to have died of bird flu in January but, speaking on the government-run radio station RTHK yesterday, infectious diseases expert Lo Wing-Lok warned the outbreak in China could be far bigger than officials admit. “This is suddenly something very serious,” said Lo, a legislator and chairman of the Hongkong Medical Association. “We have to confirm the source of these dead birds”. “If they are from the mainland, something very terrible could be happening across the border.”

Lo said there were already indications that “something extraordinary” was happening in China because of the large number of bird-flu cases reported in a short period of time. “In January, there were eight human cases reported to have come down with H5N1 infection,” Lo said. “Poultry infection may be widespread in the mainland and because of that, infected birds may find their way across the border through the water currents, through fishing boats and from visitors bringing a few birds at a time.” – dpa

Chickens at a poultry farm in China. It is feared that a massive outbreak of birf flu had broken out in China.

New Thai minister quits over rotten fish scandal BANGKOK: Thailand’s development minister quit yesterday over a scandal linked to rotten fish delivered to flood survivors, the first casualty of new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s sixweek-old cabinet. Witoon Nambutr, minister for social development and human security, tendered his resignation to Abhisit but denied any wrongdoing connected to the food packages provided in December to a flood-hit southern province. “I resign from the ministerial position effective immediately,” he told a televised press conference. “I am hurt to announce my resignation because I was not aware and had nothing to do with the distribution of the aid packages in Phatthalung province. I didn’t know there was rotten canned fish in there.” The scandal emerged in December after villagers in Phatthalung complained that the tinned sardines provided by the development ministry were spoilt. Some of the victims suffered diarrhoea and vomiting after eating the rotten sardines, the health ministry said in a statement. The health ministry closed down the factory producing the canned

fish last week and have filed criminal charges against its owners, but the opposition are calling for a corruption investigation. “He resigned because of clear evidence,” said opposition Puea Thai party spokesman Pormpong Nopparit, adding that he thought the move was designed to take the heat of other ruling Democrat Party MPs allegedly involved in the affair. Abhisit came to power in a parliamentary vote in mid-December after a court dissolved the previous ruling party. The new cabinet was sworn in on Dec 22, but was almost immediately beset by criticism. The most controversial selection was Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya – a vocal supporter of a protest group that blockaded Bangkok’s two airports in late November and early December, battering the Thai economy. Supporters of the previous government, which was linked to ousted and exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra, are demanding Kasit resign or be sacked and have threatened more street protests unless their demands are met. The government has said Kasit will remain in his post. – AFP

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s army said yesterday it had captured an elaborate underground bunker complex believed to have been the home of the leader of the Tamil Tigers, as well as the rebels’ last jungle airstrip. The captured two-storey-deep bunker had sound-proof electricity generators, air conditioning and medical supplies, and was hidden in a coconut grove in Mullaittivu district. The defence ministry described the site as the “main hideout” of the Tigers and “a major residential site” of rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. The whereabouts of Prabhakaran, 54, are uncertain, but Sri Lanka’s military has said he may have already fled the island by boat. – AFP

Gaza rocket lands in Israeli city, no casualties JERUSALEM: A rocket fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip landed in the Israeli city of Ashkelon yesterday but caused no casualties, Israeli officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack from Palestinian armed factions in Gaza. There have been occasional rocket and mortar attacks since a Jan. 18 ceasefire took hold and these have drawn Israeli air strikes on Gaza. But Israel, which holds an election next week, has said it does not want to launch a new major offensive. – Reuters

Indonesia lawmaker dies after mob beating MEDAN: An Indonesian provincial speaker died after he was beaten by a mob yesterday which stormed the local parliament building carrying a coffin, officials and witnesses said. The protesters blamed North Sumatra speaker Azis Angkat, from the Golkar party, for delays in the creation of a new province as approved recently by five local districts. When the mob broke in, Angkat tried to flee but he was caught and severely beaten. – AFP