Red Cross assists with transfer of prisoners
The country has to transfer more than 30,000 inmates and prison staff. In the meantime, some of them have been evacuated to a safe place, said Bjorn Rahm, an International Committee of the Red Cross protection coordinator who takes care of prisoners' hum
The head of the ICRC's regional delegation, Jacques Stroun, said the Red Cross had supported the prisoners with essential flood-relief items including food, blankets and clothes. He added that sandbags, boats and pumps for the prisons were also provided.
Rahm said the ICRC was supporting five juvenile centres and 24 prisons.
At least 80 out of 140 prisons around the country have taken prisoners and prison staff from flooded or about-to-be flooded jails in Bangkok and other provinces, including Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, he said. Each prison has taken from 500-1,000 evacuated people, he said.
ICRC has daily meetings with the Department of Corrections while its teams are sent to give help to flood victims in the provinces, he said.
Rahm said ICRC teams are currently in Phitsanulok and Songkhla. They also have to systematically inform relatives of the whereabouts of each prisoner who is transferred, mostly via mobile phones as fixed lines became unusable.
Julian Jones, ICRC programme manager for water and habitat, said water treatment is one solution which must be considered case by case.
"There are other areas of concern such as sanitary facilities which are also affected by flood water. In terms of requests coming in, the primary concern is how do we ensure clean drinking water supplies for coming weeks?" he said.
At least two litres of drinking water per person must be provided daily, otherwise, inmates and staff will face health risks, he said.
Another ICRC delegate, Barnabe Reaud, said the waterworks system at Nakhon Sawan prison still worked after the flood, but the water was contaminated. The solution was to boil the water. In addition to the prison’s own tanks and boilers, the ICRC provided eight containers and three boilers, enough for 3,500 people.
For another example, Stroun said 2,000 detainees had to wait for two days before evacuation in Ayutthaya. Bottled drinking water was provided but it solved only a short-term problem as it required 3-6 tonnes of transport, which became more difficult each day.
The ICRC is working with the Department of Corrections to take care of prisoners’ welfare. Although its staff is limited, the ICRC has chosen to provide help for Thailand where it can, Stroun said.
