Court hands out 21 guilty verdicts in Rohingya crisis
Sentences were expected this morning. A general is among the 103 defendants. Charges include human trafficking, kidnapping, and murder.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – A court in Thailand has handed out 21 guilty verdicts for human trafficking over the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis.
Some 103 people are on trial on charges that include human trafficking, kidnapping and murder. One of them is a high-ranking Thai military officer, Lieutenant General Manas Kongpan.
The 2015 crisis has its roots in the severe repression against stateless Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, a Buddhist majority country.
The crisis worsened after international pressure pushed Thai authorities to crack down on smuggling networks.
This led traffickers to abandon the refugees on their sea and land routes with no neighbouring country willing to take them in. Thousands found themselves stranded on their own in the high sea or in the jungle.
The current trial was sparked by the discovery of 36 bodies in shallow graves in jungle camps near the Thai-Malaysian border.
Most of those on trial are Thai, but many are from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
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