Rohingya held in Hat Yai
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Five Rohingya boat people were rounded up by administrative officials in the southern province of Songkhla's Hat Yai district, while they were waiting to be sent to a third country.
The five men aged 18-21 were found in Ban Yan Yao community forest area in Tambon Patong. They told the officials’ team, led by Hat Yai district chief Naongporn Na Phattalung, that they had departed from Myanmar by boat along with some 30 others nine days ago. After they went ashore in Ranong province, they were divided into groups of 5-10 to be transported to Hat Yai where they would lie low in small groups – no longer in a big camp to avoid detection – while waiting for transport to a third country. They claimed a smuggler agent was promised payment of Bt23,300 per head by their families once they reached the destination.
