31 May 2013

Rohingya people crammed in filthy cages in Thailand

Channel 4 News gains access to a Thai detention centre where thousands of Muslim refugees who have fled religious persecution in Burma are being forced to live in squalid conditions.

Channel 4 News has been inside one the facilities where the Rohingya people – as they are known – have been incarcerated for months.

The Thai goverment has appealed for help in dealing with the increasing numbers of refugees – but no other neighbouring country appears to be prepared to take them in, as Asia Correspondent Jon Sparks reports.

In a statement, a spokesman from Thailand’s Foreign Ministry told Channel 4 News: “The Thai authorities concerned are aware of the crowdedness issue of the existing immigration facilities. That notwithstanding, alternative arrangements are being identified, and this is a matter of priority.

“It is hoped that those arrangements will enable the authorities concerned in better addressing the crowdedness issue as well as in looking after all the groups of Rohingyas, including in reuniting those with family members.”