CHRSD-Mahidol University

(New York) - The Vietnam government intensified its repression of activists and dissidents during 2010, and cracked down harshly on freedom of expression, association, and assembly, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011.

TRANG, Jan 22 -- Thai officials on Sunday deported 91 Rohingya boat people who reportedly fled Myanmar’s harsh military rulers and landed in Kantang district, sending them back to their homeland, a senior Thai official said.

Kantang district officer Visit Tungpong said the 91 Rohingya boat people landed on a beach in the district of the southern coastal province of Trang on Saturday and were arrested by Thai marine police on charges of illegally entering the country.

The 91 Rohingyas, the largest amount number of the ethnic Muslim minority ever observed landing in the southern province, were carried by truck and sent to immigration officials in the further South of Songkhla province near the Thai-Malaysian border, said Mr Visit.

They would be sent back by boat to Myanmar, he said.

“Although it’s against humanitarian grounds, the illegal entry of foreigners must come under the (Thai) legal framework. This is to prevent a similar problem from occurring again in future,” Mr Visit said.

The Thai authorities have been instructed to patrol islands in the province to prevent foreigners from entering Thailand illegally, he said. (MCOT online news)

Indonesia: End Policies Fueling Violence Against Religious Minority
Rescind Laws That Oppress the Ahmadiyah Community
August 2, 2010

Indonesian officials have again reacted to official discrimination and vigilante violence against the Ahmadiyah by restricting their right to practice their religion. The government should show that it is serious about ending religious violence by holding those responsible to account.