The news that 54 persons died in the back of a truck as they were being transported to work illegally in Thailand on 10 April 2008 has again drawn global attention to the desperate conditions in Burma from which thousands escape daily in search of means of livelihood elsewhere, and the dangers that invariably lie ahead.
Although people around the world would expect the 47 survivors of this tragedy to be treated with basic humanity and in accordance with law, there are disturbing reports that the police in Ranong have arrested, or at least held for questioning, the 26 who were not sent for treatment at hospital.
This behaviour is reminiscent of the ugly events that followed a blast at a municipal dump in the north of Thailand during February. On that occasion police in Mae Sot, which is on the border of Burma, tricked 11 persons who had been injured in the explosion to come with relatives to their station on the pretext of taking statements. They then put the group in the cells and deported them without allowing access to lawyers who came to see them. According to unconfirmed reports, authorities on the other side of the border also detained and thoroughly interrogated the group about the blast.
The police actions in Mae Sot were not only inhumane but also contrary to law. Not only should the victims have been allowed access to the lawyers, but they had a right to make claims under the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act BE 2544 (2001), which the justice ministry must assess upon death as a result of a crime; or the costs of medical treatment, both physical and mental, and loss of income. This act makes no distinction over the circumstances under which an injured party is in Thailand. It applies equally to citizens and non-citizens, legal and illegal migrants, including the group who were deported from Mae Sot as well as those in the truck in Ranong.
The police in Mae Sot also patently failed to perform their duties by promptly deporting the group and appearing to take no interest in investigating the case thoroughly. They brushed aside speculation on the causes of the explosion and evidently did not intend to build a case that could come before a court. Had they so intended, they would have needed to keep the injured persons nearby to appear as witnesses at a trial. The criminal procedure in Thailand allows for early hearings of witnesses in special circumstances, such as illegal migrants, and these provisions have been used to good effect in other cases, for instance, in the cases of torture and murder of a young woman from Burma by an air force officer and his wife, which ended in a conviction based in part upon the eyewitness testimonies of other migrant workers.
The ugly police work and disgusting treatment of the injured persons and their families in Mae Sot during February must not be repeated in Ranong. The job of the police is not simply to round up and deport people who have come in to Thailand illegally. Whether they like it or not and whether they know it or not, the law consists of much more than this. A range of authorities, including hospital staff as well as officials from the justice department and public prosecutors all have responsibilities to ensure that these people are treated with dignity and in accordance with law, not in accordance with the polices idea of the law.
The Asian Human Rights Commission thus calls upon the government of Thailand first to make sure that there is a comprehensive investigation into this incident and that all the perpetrators, including police and other persons who are known to collude in the trafficking of persons along the countrys borders, are brought before the courts. Given the numbers of dead and scale and circumstances of the incident, special investigators and officials must be sent from Bangkok and the local police and governor not relied upon.
The AHRC calls on the government of Thailand secondly to ensure that none of the victims are deported to Burma until they have testified in court and received compensation commensurate to their injuries in accordance with the Victims for Compensation of Crime Act, including the families of the deceased.
And the AHRC calls on the government of Thailand thirdly not to use this incident as a pretext for a pointless crackdown on labour migrants from Burma and other neighbouring countries. These persons, along with vast numbers of others, are in fact doing Thailand many favours. Not only are they thanklessly servicing industries for which employers are hard-pressed to find local workers, but they are acting as a lifeline to millions of others who remain behind in their countries of origin, being supported with the income that they send back. Millions risk everything to leave Burma because life there is appallingly bad. But were they unable to leave, the conditions would be far worse. These people are propping up their countrys economy, and thus doing their part to prevent a much greater catastrophe on Thailands doorstep. The authorities in Thailand have no alternative but to accept that they will continue to come, that this is a better thing than if they dont, and accept the legal and moral obligation to treat them with dignity.
