In a video posted online on Tuesday, Thai troopers can be seen dismantling a footbridge in Tak province on the border of Myanmar. The bridge was utilized by Burmese refugees fleeing unrest in Karen state to cross over into Thailand in recent months. Human rights organisations are urging the Thai authorities to research their forces’ treatment of refugees. The Thai military say they destroyed the bridge to cease crime.
A Thai soldier asks the anonymous cameraman, “What are you filming? Do you wish to die?” as three Thai troopers destroy the footbridge over the Wa Le River, a tributary of the Moei River on the Thai – Myanmar border.
The bridge connected Thailand to Karen State in Myanmar, where the Burmese junta have allegedly carried out airstrikes and killed civilians in latest months in unrest which started on February 1 final yr when the junta took energy of Myanmar by army coup, ousting the democratically-elected government at the moment.
Thought-provoking -based human rights group Fortify Rights – who posted the video – made the next statements…
“The principle of “non-refoulement” prohibits denying entry to these fleeing persecution.”
“Thai authorities ought to examine their forces’ remedy of refugees.”
Fortify Rights confirmed the video was taken two months in the past on the Myanmar side of the border. In the background, a crying baby and folks speaking Karen language can be heard.
“Sources familiar with the bridge and the world advised Fortify Rights that Myanmar refugees, especially kids and older people, used the bridge to flee violence and persecution and that casual humanitarian employees used it to transport lifesaving help from Thailand to internally displaced persons to internally displaced individuals (IDPs) in Myanmar.”
The 3rd Army Area of the Thai military addressed the video in a statement on Wednesday…
“The video clip depicting Thai soldiers breaking off a cross-border bamboo bridge was taken before the combating inside Myanmar flared up, and the bridge was illegal… The bridge has nothing to do with the migration of displaced persons… It was conducted following an order by the Tak border authorities to forestall illegal teams from doing their legal activities… At that point, there was no preventing between Myanmar soldiers and ethnic minority drive, and there were no displaced people.”
The Thai army’s statement is nonsensical given that displaced individuals from Karen state have continually fled unrest and crossed over the border into Thailand since February last 12 months when the military junta took energy over Myanmar. Furthermore, completely different footage taken in January this 12 months (before Thai troopers allegedly destroyed the bridge) reveals a total of 45 individuals – together with women and children – lining as a lot as cross the river into Thailand to flee violence in Karen state, based on Fortify Rights.
Thai authorities have been accused of forcing Burmese refugees to return to Myanmar after an alleged order from Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to forestall “illegal immigration.” Historically, refugees from Myanmar have struggled to be seen as such in the eyes of Thai authorities, who classify them as “economic migrants” quite than political refugees. Without the proper documentation, no legal route into Thailand is on the market for Burmese refugees, who are pressured to enter the kingdom illegally out of fear of persecution from Myanmar’s military junta.
In December 2019, the Thai authorities enacted a regulation to “identify folks in want of safety and to grant them authorized status and entry the mandatory public providers.” However, the regulation has not been applied in reality in many cases, in accordance with reports of interviews with refugees. Without authorized standing in Thailand, refugees face felony penalties underneath Thailand’s 1979 Immigration Act which prohibits unauthorised entry or keep in Thailand. Refugees are topic to arrest, detention, compelled return or refoulement as a result.
Executive director of Fortify Rights suggested that Thailand ought to create a nationwide scheme to issue ID playing cards to refugees that provide them with genuine protection. Last month, the Associated Press reported that refugees have been being sold unlawful “police cards” for 350 baht each underneath the premise that they’d be protected.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners mentioned that the army junta in Myanmar has killed at least 1,821 civilians – together with many pro-democracy activists – because the coup occurred final 12 months.
Fortify Rights mentioned that since February this yr, they’ve interviewed 15 refugees from Myanmar on the Thai-Myanmar border, three U.N. officers and humanitarian help workers. The interviewees claimed that Thai authorities had arrested, detained and extorted money from Burmese refugees.
SOURCE: Benar News