Thailand Promises Army Probe Of Rohingya Scandal

Despite U.N. officials urging Bangkok to let them help with the Rohingya, outsiders would not be asked to look into reports of abuse.

Thailand promised a transparent investigation on Thursday into allegations of army abuse of Rohingya boat people, but said the probe would be led by the shadowy military unit at the heart of the scandal.

Despite U.N. officials urging Bangkok to let them help with the Rohingya, an oppressed Muslim minority from army-ruled Myanmar, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromyas said outsiders would not be asked to look into persistent reports of abuse.

More than 550 Rohingya are feared to have drowned in the last two months after 1,000 were towed far out to sea by the army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) and abandoned in rickety, engine-less boats.

Originally set up in the Cold War to run anti-communist death squads, ISOC was revived after the 2006 coup to stifle political opposition to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

It is unclear why it has suddenly taken charge of dealing with such immigration issues, normally the preserve of the police. Foreign Ministry officials say privately they are routinely unable to get any information from ISOC commanders.

"It's our internal arrangement and if the military investigation is not satisfactory, we can set up another group to do it," Kasit told reporters after a meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative Raymond Hall.

"Don't doubt before the investigation is completed," he said. "This is a very transparent government."

Hall stressed the need for a proper investigation into the abuse reports, which have undermined Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's stated commitment to human rights and the rule of law.

"It needs to be a proper investigation, it needs to be transparent, it needs to give people the satisfaction that they know what has actually happened," Hall said.

UNHCR asked Bangkok 10 days ago for access to a group of 126 Rohingya thought to be in military custody in the southern province of Ranong, but is yet to receive a formal response. The refugee agency had wanted to interview the Rohingyas to ascertain their status and rights according to international law.

ISOC has since said the 126 in question are no longer in the country.

Hall said after the meeting he was confident UNHCR would be allowed to see another group of 78 Rohingya who appeared in a Ranong court on Wednesday on charges of illegal immigration.

Of the 78, four are in hospital with wounds they say were inflicted by Myanmar military officials, and 12 are under 18. The men were found guilty, and ordered to be detained by immigration police for five days before they are deported.

Both the Ranong governor and immigration police refused to say how, when or to where the group would be deported.

According to the UNHCR, 230,000 Rohingya now live in Bangladesh, having fled their ancestral homes in northwest Myanmar after decades of abuse and harassment at the hands of the former Burma's Buddhist military rulers.

The junta does not recognise them as one of the country's 130-odd ethnic minorities, and those in the northwest are restricted from travel inside the country. Besides Bangladesh, there are large numbers of Rohingya in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.