தாய்லாந்துச் சிறையில் வாடும் ஈழத்தமிழ் அகதிகள் (ஆங்கில மூலம்)

கடந்த பதிவில் தாய்லாந்து சிறையில் வாடும் ஈழத்தமிழ் அகதிகளின் நேரடி அனுபவத்தை நண்பர் வரதன் பகிரக்கொடுத்திருந்தேன். அதனைத் தொடர்ந்து உலகெங்கும் வாழும் நம் உறவுகள் தாய்லாந்துச் சிறையில் இருக்கும் அபலைகளின் விடிவிற்கான வழிவகைகளைச் செய்வதாக வாக்குறுதி கொடுத்திருந்தார்கள். அதன் ஒரு கட்டமாக தாம் சார்ந்திருக்கும் மனித உரிமை அமைப்புக்களுக்கு இந்த அகதிகள் தொடர்பில் மகஜர் ஒன்றை எழுதிக் கொடுப்பதன் மூலம் மனித உரிமை ஆர்வலர்களுக்கு இச்செய்தியைத் தெரியப்படுத்தி அவர்கள் மூலமான உதவியைப் பெறலாம் என்பது தற்போதைய நோக்கமாக இருக்கின்றது. எனவே கடந்த பதிவு ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்புச் செய்யப்பட்டு இங்கே தரப்படுகின்றது. இதை வாசிக்கும் அன்பர்கள் உங்களால் முடிந்தளவு முன்னெடுப்புக்களைச் செய்ய வேண்டுகின்றோம். இம்முயற்சியில் உதவும் அத்தனை அன்புள்ளங்களுக்கும் நன்றி.

முதலில் சில மனித உரிமை அமைப்புக்களின் விபரங்களைத் தருகின்றேன்.


United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse.
Phone: +41 22 739 8111

Mr BRUNNER Christian
ICRC regional delegation
20 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 4
Soi Nana Tai
BANGKOK 10110
Thailand
Tel.: (+662) 251 04 24 / 251 52 45 / 251 29 47
Fax: (+662) 253 54 28
Email: bankok.ban@icrc.org

UNICEF
Office of the Regional Director for East Asia and Pacific
P.O. Box 2-154
19 Phra Atit Road
Chanasongkram, Phra Nakorn
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Telephone: + 66 2 356.9499/ 280.5931
Facsimile: +66 2 280.3563/ 280.3564
Email: eapro@unicef.org

UNICEF (Thailand - Country Office)
P.O. Box 2-154
19 Phra Atit Road
Chanasongkram, Phra Nakorn
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Telephone: + 66 2 356.9499/ 280.5931
Facsimile: + 66 2 281.6032
Email: thailandao@unicef.org

UNICEF House (Headquarters)
3 United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017
U.S.A.
Telephone: + 1 212 326.7000
Facsimile: +1 212 887.7465 - Primary/ 887.7454 - Secondary


Charles Radcliffe
Donor and External Relations Section
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 917 94 38
Email: dexrel@ohchr.org

Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London
WC1X 0DW, UK
Telephone: +44-20-74135500
Fax number: +44-20-79561157


Amnesty International in Thailand
641/8 Vara Place, Ladprao Soi 5, Ladprao Road
Ladyao, Chatuchak
Bangkok, 10900 THAILAND


Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
Tel: 1-(212) 290-4700, Fax: 1-(212) 736-1300
Email: hrwnyc@hrw.org
Email:
info@amnesty.or.th

Refugees International
2001 S Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: +1 202-828-0110
ri@refintl.org

Refugees International Japan
c/o Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.
Daiba Frontier Bldg. 12F
2-3-2 Daiba
Minato-ku
Tokyo 135-8074
Tel: 03-5500-3093
Fax: 03-5500-3094

Plight of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees languishing in Immigration Bureau Jails in Thailand

Hundreds of Tamils fled the worsening situation in Sri Lanka soon after the peace accord was signed in 2002. Among them a few hundreds sought refuge in Thailand. Most of those refugees could now be found in the Immigration Bureau jail of Thailand.

For the past two years more than a hundred Tamils have been imprisoned in the Immigration Bureau jail of Thailand. Around 21 children and more than 20 women are among the hundreds of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees imprisoned.

These Tamil refugees have been allotted the worst cells in the jail. It has been months since any of them had seen the sunlight or breathed fresh air. They are struggling to find space even to sleep among the people from all over the world, who have been imprisoned here on one pretext or another. Children's education and health are totally neglected. The food provided is devoid of nutrients. Most of the people imprisoned are sick and they are affected both psychologically and physically. Some medicines are given once in a while through the prison bars, without even examining the patient.

All a patient could do is try to communicate with the Thai nurse in sign language. If a patient tries to raise his voice, his fate would soon be worse than death. Even if he is at death bed, he would not get any treatment. There have been instances of some critically ill children being saved after all the Tamil prisoners have attracted the attention of the authorities by banging their plates on the prison bars.

Normally a family gets split into groups when they are imprisoned here. Young children and girls are sent with their mothers to separate cells, while boys are sent along with their fathers. It has been around 10 months since some of the men saw their wives. They don't know how their families are faring. This has affected the parents' morale more than anything else.

These Sri Lankan Tamils have not committed any crime, except perhaps seeking refuge in Thailand. And they have no way of letting loved ones know about their fate. There is no way for them to get information to the outside world. But, human rights organizations in Thailand seem to have turned a blind eye to the plight of these unfortunate refugees, even though they seem to be quite aware of the problem.

What makes the whole situation more unbearable is the behavior of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand. The Sri Lankan Embassy has labelled some prisoners as members of LTTE and calls those with families as 'Maaveerar Kudumbam' (the relatives of the slain members of LTTE). They announce these 'facts' to some preferred media with a bias. It has also requested the Thai government not to let these prisoners have visitors. The Sri Lankan Embassy has made this request in paper, and the prisoners are ill-treated based on this request.

Among the hundreds of Sri Lankan Tamils who have sought refuge in Thailand, most of them are living in the countryside near Bangkok. They are scared to venture out in daylight. This is because they are scared that people connected to the Embassy might inform their presence to the authorities. Members of the Sri Lankan paramilitary roam about freely masquerading as refugees acting as informants to the Sri Lankan embassy.

All the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have registered themselves in the United Nations office in Thailand. Even the people approved by the UN office as refugees are languishing behind bars, while more UN approved refugees suffer outside. It is quite unfortunate that even the UN office has not paid much attention to the goings on, in spite of being aware of it. They don't seem to pay any attention what so over about the plight of the children. UNICEF declares that putting children in jails in an international criminal offence. How can it ignore these children behind the bars in Thailand? It is quite unfortunate that not even a cursory investigation on the wellbeing of these children was undertaken.

Hence, international humanitarian organizations should come forward and raise their voice on behalf of these hapless refugees. We all should work together and bring an awareness about these poor refugees languishing in the Immigration Bureau jail of Thailand. Humanitarian organizations and associations should come forward to resolve the plight of our fellow countrymen.