10  theSun | WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4 2009

news without borders

Myanmar migrants: Thais cast us adrift

BANDA ACEH: About 200 Myanmar
migrants found adrift off Sumatra told
rescuers they had been towed out to
sea and abandoned to their fate by
Thai security forces, an Indonesian
navy officer said yesterday.
They said 20 others had perished
as they drifted at sea for three weeks
in a wooden boat with no engine.
Fishermen found them huddled
in the boat off Sumatra on Monday
afternoon, said navy officer Tedi
Sutardi.
The migrants, from Myanmar’s
minority Muslim Rohingya commu-
nity, said they had been cast adrift by
Thai security forces as they tried to
flee persecution in Myanmar.
They showed scars from beatings
they said they had received at the
hands of the Thais, matching simi-
lar allegations from another group
of 174 Rohingya who were found off
Sumatra on Jan 7.
“Fishermen found a wooden boat
without an engine drifting in the sea
with 198 Myanmar migrants. They
said Thai authorities towed them out
to sea and set them adrift,” Sutardi
said.
“Their boat was small. It’s only
12m long and 3m wide and was held
together with ropes.
“They were drifting for about 21
days. Most of them are in critical
condition and are receiving treat-
ment at a hospital in Aceh.”
Using limited Malay, the Bengali-
speaking migrants said they had left
their homes in Myanmar’s western
Arakan state because they were be-
ing forced to embrace Buddhism.
They said the military authori-
ties in the mainly Buddhist country
chopped their fingers off if they tried
to pray.
Myanmar’s military rulers ef-
fectively deny citizenship rights to
the Rohingya, leading to abuse and
contributing to a regional humani-
tarian crisis as hundreds try to flee
the country by boat every year.
Reports and a local human rights
group have said nearly 1,000 of the
Rohingya landed on Thai shores
late last year, before being towed
out to sea and left with few supplies
in separate groups in mid and late
December. Sutardi said the migrants
found on Monday had confirmed
those reports, putting their number
at 1,200.
Until Monday only about 650 had
been found in Indonesian and Indian
waters, all telling the same stories of
abuse by the Myanmar and Thai
authorities.
Bangkok denies the allegations of
abuse, saying that all the migrants
were processed humanely. – AFP

Expert warns briefs

of big bird-flu
Shanghai official
outbreak in gets life for corruption
SHANGHAI: A former leading official in

China Shanghai’s Pudong skyscraper district

HONGKONG: Experts were carrying out
tests yesterday on dead birds washed up on
Hongkong beaches amid fears of a huge un-
reported avian-flu outbreak in neighbouring
mainland China.
The discovery of the dead birds – which
were being tested for H5N1, the bird-flu
strain that can be deadly in humans
– brought a warning from one of the ter-
ritory’s top bird-flu experts that “something
very terrible” could be happening in China.
Three of 12 birds found on the island of
Lantau in the past five days have tested
positive for H5N1.
Villagers on the island said dead birds
have been washing ashore in recent days
and they believe they come from China’s
Pearl River Delta, which flows out into the
South China Sea surrounding Hongkong.
On Monday alone, the carcasses of one
goose, five chickens, a duck and two birds
were found, bringing to 12 the number of
dead birds found on Lantau since Thursday.
China has in the past hushed up outbreaks
of bird flu and SARS, or severe acute res-
piratory syndrome, which was rampant in
southern China before it spread to Hong-
kong and other countries around the world
in 2003, killing hundreds of people.
Eight people in China were reported to Lo said there were already indica- Chickens at a
have died of bird flu in January but, speak- tions that “something extraordinary” was poultry farm
ing on the government-run radio station happening in China because of the large in China. It is
RTHK yesterday, infectious diseases expert number of bird-flu cases reported in a short feared that
Lo Wing-Lok warned the outbreak in China period of time. a massive
could be far bigger than officials admit. “In January, there were eight human outbreak of
“This is suddenly something very seri- cases reported to have come down with birf flu had
ous,” said Lo, a legislator and chairman of H5N1 infection,” Lo said. broken out in
the Hongkong Medical Association. “We “Poultry infection may be widespread in China.
have to confirm the source of these dead the mainland and because of that, infected
birds”. birds may find their way across the border
“If they are from the mainland, something through the water currents, through fishing
very terrible could be happening across the boats and from visitors bringing a few birds
border.” at a time.” – dpa
New Thai minister quits over
has been sentenced to life in prison
for corruption, state media reported
yesterday. A Shanghai court convicted
Kang Huijun, 52, of taking more than 5.9
million yuan (RM2.95 million) in bribes
and illegally acquiring 12.1 million yuan
(RM6.1 million) through other means,
the Xinhua news agency reported.
Kang was director of the district’s
economic and trade bureau and gen-
eral manager of state-owned property
developer Shanghai Lujiazui (Group) Co.
Ltd, before becoming deputy district
head in 2004, the report said. – AFP
Sri Lanka takes Tiger
chief’s bunker, airstrip
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s army said
yesterday it had captured an elabo-
rate underground bunker complex
believed to have been the home of
the leader of the Tamil Tigers, as well
as the rebels’ last jungle airstrip.
The captured two-storey-deep
bunker had sound-proof electric-
ity generators, air conditioning and
medical supplies, and was hidden in a
coconut grove in Mullaittivu district.
The defence ministry described
the site as the “main hideout” of the
Tigers and “a major residential site” of
rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
The whereabouts of Prabhakaran,
54, are uncertain, but Sri Lanka’s mili-
tary has said he may have already
fled the island by boat. – AFP

rotten fish scandal Gaza rocket lands in

BANGKOK: Thailand’s development
minister quit yesterday over a scandal
linked to rotten fish delivered to flood
survivors, the first casualty of new
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s six-
week-old cabinet.
Witoon Nambutr, minister for social
development and human security,
tendered his resignation to Abhisit but
denied any wrongdoing connected to
the food packages provided in Decem-
ber to a flood-hit southern province.
“I resign from the ministerial posi-
tion effective immediately,” he told a
televised press conference.
“I am hurt to announce my resigna-
tion because I was not aware and had
nothing to do with the distribution of
the aid packages in Phatthalung prov-
ince. I didn’t know there was rotten
canned fish in there.”
The scandal emerged in Decem-
ber after villagers in Phatthalung
complained that the tinned sardines
provided by the development ministry
were spoilt.
Some of the victims suffered diar-
rhoea and vomiting after eating the rot-
ten sardines, the health ministry said in
a statement. The health ministry closed
down the factory producing the canned
fish last week and have filed criminal
charges against its owners, but the
opposition are calling for a corruption
investigation.
“He resigned because of clear
evidence,” said opposition Puea Thai
party spokesman Pormpong Nopparit,
adding that he thought the move was
designed to take the heat of other
ruling Democrat Party MPs allegedly
involved in the affair.
Abhisit came to power in a parlia-
mentary vote in mid-December after
a court dissolved the previous ruling
party. The new cabinet was sworn in on
Dec 22, but was almost immediately
beset by criticism.
The most controversial selection
was Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya – a
vocal supporter of a protest group that
blockaded Bangkok’s two airports in
late November and early December,
battering the Thai economy.
Supporters of the previous govern-
ment, which was linked to ousted and
exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra, are
demanding Kasit resign or be sacked
and have threatened more street pro-
tests unless their demands are met.
The government has said Kasit will
remain in his post. – AFP
Israeli city, no casualties
JERUSALEM: A rocket fired from the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip landed in the
Israeli city of Ashkelon yesterday but
caused no casualties, Israeli officials
said. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility for the attack from Pales-
tinian armed factions in Gaza.
There have been occasional rocket
and mortar attacks since a Jan. 18
ceasefire took hold and these have
drawn Israeli air strikes on Gaza. But Is-
rael, which holds an election next week,
has said it does not want to launch a
new major offensive. – Reuters
Indonesia lawmaker
dies after mob beating
MEDAN: An Indonesian provincial
speaker died after he was beaten by
a mob yesterday which stormed the
local parliament building carrying a
coffin, officials and witnesses said.
The protesters blamed North Su-
matra speaker Azis Angkat, from the
Golkar party, for delays in the crea-
tion of a new province as approved
recently by five local districts.
When the mob broke in, Angkat
tried to flee but he was caught and
severely beaten. – AFP