HUMAN
RIGHTS
WATCH
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May 21, 2020
End Inhumane Indefinite Detention of Asylum Seekers
Rohingya refugees sit behind bars at a police station in Satun province, Thailand, June 12, 2019. © 2019 AP Photo
(Bangkok) – Thai authorities should allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unhindered access to Rohingya from Myanmar to determine whether they qualify for refugee status, Human Rights Watch said today. The government’s inhumane policy of holding Rohingya arriving in Thailand in indefinite detention should be immediately repealed.
The latest group of Rohingya arrived in Thailand by land, crossing from Myanmar into Mae Sot district of Tak province on May 20, 2020. Thai authorities arrested at least 12 Rohingya and sent them to the Mae Sot immigration detention facility. Approximately 200 Rohingya are being held in immigration detention and other facilities across Thailand.