SONGKHLA, 15 January 2013 Several local organizations have been providing basic assistance to over 800 Rohingyas who were found in the South of Thailand while on their way to Malaysia.
843 Rohingyas, who are now treated as illegal migrants in Thailand,were fleeing from Myanmar to Malaysia in three groups when they were picked up by Thai police. Thai authorities said the migrants must be returned to the country of their origin. Humanitarian groups and the locals have been providing these Rohingyas with basic necessities and helping the injured while they are detained in Songkhla. Children, women, and the elderly have been taken to a children and elderly care center.
Local Songkhla teachers and students as well as the private sector in Hat Yai have donated money, food, clothes and medicine to the Rohingya Muslims, as humanitarian assistance.
The Rohingyas have been held in different government agencies waiting to be deported. Most of the refugees are suffering from malnutrition after being without food for days. They also lack proper clothing and medicine.
Clashes in Myanmar’s Arakan state have forced many Rohingyas, who have been discriminated against, to flee their country for shelter, mostly in Malaysia.
