Summing up Thailand's Rohinga Shame

Lame excuses add to shame

By: Sanitsuda Ekachai

Published: in Bangkok Post 22/01/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

Will someone please tell the army chief and the navy boss to stop making lame excuses? No one believes a word of it. The more they try to defend their horrific act with the Rohingya boat people, the bigger the hole they are digging for themselves. And the greater the harm they are doing to the country.

Thank you so very much for making the whole world see Thailand as a cold-blooded country.

At a time when Thailand badly needs to address its image problem from the coup, violent protests and the crazy airport closedown, the navy - apparently with full backing from other national security agencies - has shown the world how cruel we can be to poor migrant workers, especially when they are dark-skinned Muslims.

Thank you for forcing us to probe into our hearts to see if we can still call ourselves Buddhists.

Honestly, I am a bit annoyed by the way the news was played up in the foreign media, which often plays on sensationalism and moral superiority, feeding on bigotry. But there is not much we can do about that.

What we can do, however, is to look at our own bigotry, confront the problem and ask ourselves why we allow ourselves to be blind to such atrocities. For this was most certainly not the first time that the Rohingya boat people were pushed back to face death at sea. And it would not be the last had it not been exposed by the foreign press, which we must be thankful for.

But we see only denial and defensive reaction on the home front.

The navy and the army insist with deadpan faces that they did not violate any humanitarian standards.

Excuse me, sir. Is towing people out to the open seas, setting them adrift, and allowing them to starve to death your standard of humanity?

Wake up! You have already woken up to the fact that the world no longer accepts your coups. Now it is time to learn that your old-world standard is too poor to be acceptable, too.

The reaction from Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban is equally distressing. He says the whole thing is an attempt to discredit Thailand.

The responses from some local media are no less frustrating. In sum, they view the navy's move as an effort to protect the country from the influx of the Rohingya, who are feared to have links with the southern Muslim militants. Besides, Thailand is already swamped with immigrants and refugees from neighbouring countries. Overburdened, they say, Thailand needs help to deal with the massive migrant influx, not condemnation.

And if the international community wants to pin blame on someone, why Thailand and not Burma? Is the international community also to blame for failing to contain the atrocious Burmese junta, leading to the massive migration of the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities?

They may have some valid points. But what good are they if they are used to justify our heartlessness?

Personally, the most shocking reaction has come from my 13-year-old daughter: "But the Rohingya, aren't they illegal?"

They are, I said, but that is no reason to treat them so mercilessly.

Waging my personal war against racist nationalism which poisons my girl's head, I told her the Rohingya are a Muslim minority who are severely persecuted by the Burmese military junta. They are the fathers who dared to risk their lives to support their poor families back home. And if we cannot let them stay, we must deport them through legal channels, not make them die at sea.

Her question: Why cannot Thailand do something with Burma to end the mess?

Why not, indeed.

Thai nationalism is notorious for making Thais hate Burma. et our governments and military have mostly backed the Burmese generals. It is Burma's oil, gas, timber and gems. It is greed. It is ethnic prejudices that dictate our treatment of the powerless Burmese people.

If that is why, we are now paying dearly for it.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.