Arakan News Agency
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expects three-nation talks with Myanmar and Malaysia to take place this month in a bid to stamp out the region’s thriving human-trafficking trade.
Myanmar has welcomed Prayut’s call for talks but there has been no response from Malaysian authorities so far.
Thai foreign ministry is arranging a Thai-Myanmar meeting and will proceed with further steps, Prayut said.
The prime minister said there could be joint committees on foreign relations and security set up between Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.
Myanmar is the origin of one of the main trafficked ethnic groups, the Rohingya, and Malaysia is a destination of choice for boat people.
He said the long and short-term measures to tackle the crisis would be similar and were expected to be carried out equally effectively in each country.
“Thailand cannot deal with the issue single-handedly, but it has to be dealt with from the origins in Myanmar and Bangladesh,” he said.
Prayut reiterated that a 10-day deadline he had imposed on local authorities was for a complete scrutiny of trafficking activities and locating possible detention camps and was not the timeframe for the long-standing problem to be solved.
Thai police have arrested a high-profile suspect involved in trafficking Rohingya and demanding ransoms from their relatives.
A police source said Suphoj Muensew was hiding at a home in Trang province.
There were explosives buried around this home, with detonators ready for use, and there were also tunnels and underground rooms with rifle slots, the source said.
Source : thedailystar
