Thailand’s police said last week that they have identified ten top traffickers of Rohingya, the ethnic minority whose members have been fleeing Myanmar for the past several years. Police said they were working with the Anti-Money Laundering Office to build cases against the suspected traffickers.
A member of the government’s anti-human trafficking team told The Nation newspaper on condition of anonymity that the team knew the identities of the ten traffickers, but would only release their aliases to the media while they are building their cases against them. “These agents have contacts in the Rakhine region (a province in Western Myanmar bordering Bangladesh) from where the Rohingya people are exported,” he told the paper.
Of the ten traffickers, the official said, “These suspects run restaurants, pubs, piers for fisheries and refrigerated truck services as fronts. While these legitimate businesses clearly don’t generate massive revenues, each of these people has hundreds of millions of baht in assets. Some even have billions.”
Officials are currently in the process of coordinating with the Anti-Money Laundering Office to investigate the suspects’ assets and determine if they are proceeds from trafficking.
The Rohingya live in both Myanmar and Bangladesh. Facing with various challenges and in search for better opportunities, many have been attempting to migrate by boat for more than a decade. Since communal violence erupted in Rakhine state about two years ago, a flood of Rohingya has been attempting to leave Myanmar.
Most Rohingya are bound for Malaysia, which is also predominantly Muslim, because they hope for a warmer welcome there. Thousands of Rohingya, however, end up in Thailand. Those rescued have been accorded assistance on a humanitarian basis, while Thai authorities continue to work with concerned countries and international organizations in search for viable solutions. Screening is also conducted by a multidisciplinary team to determine whether they are victims of trafficking. Last month Thai officials arrested 53 Rohingya migrants in southern Thailand for illegal immigration but after further investigation declared them to be victims of trafficking. Both Thai and Myanmar nationals have been arrested by Thai police in the past for smuggling Rohingya.
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