Rohingya trafficking crackdown: Thai army general surrenders in Bangkok

Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen turns himself in at police headquarters in Bangkok, Wednesday. Pic: AP.

By Asian Correspondent Staff Jun 03, 2015

A senior Thai army officer wanted in connection with the trafficking of Rohingya migrants has turned himself in to police after failing to do so on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen surrendered shortly before noon Wednesday, marking the first arrest of a military official since the investigation started last month.

He faces multiple charges, including human trafficking, detention and ransom. He was questioned by authorities for about 10 minutes before being taken to Songkhla, where his arrest warrant was issued.

Manas had earlier proclaimed his innocence, promising to defend himself in court.

“I’d like to ask society not to judge me as though I’m already guilty. They should weigh information from both sides and wait until the court judgement,” he said in an interview with Thai media.

“I beg for justice and I’m willing to cooperate with authorities. No matter what the court ruling is, I will respect it.”

More than 50 people, including several local politicians and officials, were arrested after the discovery of dozens of bodies believed to be those of Burma’s Rohingya migrants at the abandoned trafficking camps near the Thai-Malaysian border last month.

More than 100 graves have since been found nearby on the Malaysian side of the border.

An abandoned cage is photographed at a camp found in Wang Burma at the Malaysia-Thailand border outside Wang Kelian, Malaysia. Pic: AP.

Thousands of migrants have washed ashore in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in recent weeks, as efforts have been stepped up to rescue thousands more believed to be stranded at sea on rickety boats.

The recent developments have brought international focus on a years-old problem. Most of the migrants are believed to be fleeing persecution in western Burma (Myanmar) and poverty in Bangladesh.

Human rights organisations have long criticised Thailand for its treatment of migrants from Burma. Reuters published a special report in 2013 that alleged navy officials were complicit in the trafficking of Rohingya migrants in southern Thailand.

Shortly afterwards Phuketwan journalists Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian were charged with criminal defamation for an article citing the Reuters report alleging that some navy officials “work systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in fleeingRohingya,” and that they earn about 2,000 baht (US$63) per Rohingya “for spotting a boat or turning a blind eye.”

Chutima and Morison’s trial is due to begin on July 14, though pressure is mounting for charges to be dropped as more evidence of military involvement in the trafficking of Rohingya emerges.

Additional reporting from Associated Press